By Nicholas Martinez , November 12, 2025
Pickleball has become America’s fastest growing sport, according to the Association of Pickleball Players and the Cal Poly Pomona Pickleball Club, is looking to capitalize on that growing interest and expand the sport at CPP.A group of friends who began playing pickleball together in summer 2024 founded the club in February.
“I started playing during COVID with a lot of my friends back in my hometown,” said Kenny Motolinia, club president and a finance, real estate and law student. “And I eventually asked my roommates from sophomore year if they wanted to go out to the tennis courts and try to teach them. It worked out in my favor and now we all play pretty regularly together.”
In the midst of its first full semester of operation, the club hosted its first ever social collaboration event on September 16 with CPP Barkada, the Filipino-American organization on campus.
The event featured one of the largest turnouts in the club’s history, with more than 30 members across both organizations playing pickleball at CPP’s tennis courts.
The club hopes to maintain membership and high event turnouts in the face of scheduling conflicts throughout the semester with classes and other commitments.
“One of the challenges we do face is trying to keep our attendance high at meetings,” said vice president and civil engineering student Anthony Felipe Castillo. “Last year during the soft launch of the club, there was only a few people that would regularly come out and play. This year, we started off strong, but slowly we may face the same problem again.”
As the club approaches its first anniversary next semester, both Motolinia and Castillo shared a continued vision of the club that focuses on all skill levels of pickleball players. While the weekly meetings look to bring in players of all skill levels, Motoliniaand Castillo have heard some feedback from more competition-oriented members of the club.
“Our more advanced players want to compete against other club teams from other schools or go to tournaments and compete against higher skill levels,” Motolinia said. “So, I think starting next semester,we do want to have the funds to go out there and participate and cover those costs.”
Motolinia, who plans to graduate at the end of the 2026 spring semester, will turn leadership over to Castillo, who will carry the same vision for the club going forward.
“The sport is very popular, and we have a lot of younger people in the club who are very passionate and very loyal,” Motolinia said. “So, I think as we start to get younger generations interested in it more, it’ll naturally develop in the next couple years, and we’ll get a more loyal base for the club.”
For all curious pickleball players, the club can be contacted through Mybar and @calpoly_pickleball on Instagram.
Feature image courtesy of CPP Pickleball Club