ACU’s Pickleball club is set to host a tournament to help raise funds for the organization at 3 p.m. on Nov. 10 at the Student Recreation and Wellness Center.

The pickleball tournament is an event which provides the group with exposure to the game and development of the organization.

Co-President Emily Sherrill, a senior nursing major from Jonesboro, AR, said she is excited for the future of the organization.

“I hope that we have a lot of people to come out and play,” Sherrill said. “We just want to create a community that likes to get together and have fun.”

Co-President Chloe Delgado, a senior nursing major from Frisco, said the organization is trying to break the stereotypes that come with the sport in hopes of spreading exposure of the game to younger generations.

“Pickleball has this stamp of being a sport for older generations,” Delgado said. “It has a stereotype attached to it that we want to break.”

Pickleball is a sport comprised of elements from table tennis, outdoor tennis and badminton. The game was created in 1965 by Joel Pritchard, Bill Bell and Barney McCallum.

While the sport was created almost 54 years ago, Delgado and Sherrill are seeking to share the sport with a younger audience.

Delgado and Sherrill partnered in spring of 2018 to create the team after enrolling in a pickleball class taught by Deonna Shake, instructor in the department of kinesiology and nutrition.

Shake has taught pickleball at ACU for 20 years and said it has been a dream of hers to see a pickleball team here at ACU.

“It has been a dream of mine to get one going, but it takes students who take the initiative to do most of the legwork and try to promote the club,” Shake said. “Emily and Chloe were such fun students to have in my pickleball class and I could tell they really fell in love with the game. I commend them in being the ones to make a difference in putting a pickleball club on the ACU campus, despite being busy nursing majors.”

The club welcomes all students to come out and participate in the tournament for only 5 dollars. To register for the pickleball tournament, visit the Student Activities page on the ACU website.