Hundreds of players and spectators gathered in Berwyn last week for the Association of Pickleball Professionals Philadelphia Open Tournament that took place at Upper Main Line YMCA, writes Matteo Iadonisi for 6ABC. 

“The values of pickleball so align themselves with the values of the YMCA,” said Tim Irwin, the Director of Pickleball within the YMCA of Greater Brandywine. “And when pickleball became a part of the program, I mean, all of a sudden, people are finding a spice of life that they didn’t know about before.”

There are 43 pickleball courts across the Greater Brandywine YMCA locations, where members can play both indoors and outdoors. The Y offers instructions for new players and coming soon it will start offering a youth pickleball camp. 

The sport has quickly grown in popularity among Y members. 

“You’re moving a lot but you don’t really notice it,” said Larry Kilcullen. “I lost about 30 pounds playing over about a four-month span and it wasn’t like I was trying. It was just, I was out a lot, sweating a lot, moving a lot, but having a lot of fun.” 

Last week, amateurs and professionals of all ages picked up their paddles to compete in the tournament. 

“You’ll see, you know, people from 15 all the way to 70 years old playing in the same tournament,” said Biswajit Datta. 

Read more about the pickleball tournament at 6ABC.