BRIGHAM CITY — Tyson McGuffin is among the best in the world at his sport. But, like pickleball, he remains obscure.
So does the Tournament of Champions — started in 2013, hosted by Brigham City since 2016 and considered one of three pickleball “majors.” But the sport is growing, and not just in senior centers or retirement homes. Pickleball participation has ballooned by 650% over the past six years, according to NBC News.
And the Tournament of Champions, where McGuffin vied for men’s singles and doubles titles during the Aug. 21-24 competition, showed that sponsors are noticing. The John A. Gullo Medal Court — the facility’s stadium-like playing area — was surrounded by banners and tents from companies like Selkirk, Paddletek and Penn Pickleball, all of which sell some combination of pickleball paddles, balls and apparel. Wednesday’s Men’s Singles Open Pro event featured competitors from 22 states, Canada and Israel, plus several hundred spectators. And it was only Day 1 of four; the doubles tournaments on Friday and Saturday attracted thousands of fans, per organizer Kyle Klein.
But the facade of professionalism dissolves upon closer inspection. McGuffin, 29, is one of the very few who makes a living on pickleball by leading camps, being sponsored and winning tournaments, in that order. His biggest rival, 20-year-old Ben Johns, meanwhile, is a materials engineering student at the University of Maryland. In different ways, they illustrate a sport teetering between professional relevance and amateur accessibility.
Let’s now pause for the obligatory “what is pickleball?” part of this story. Started in 1965 by Washington State Congressman Joel Pritchard and businessman Bill Bell, pickleball looks like a combination of tennis and pingpong. McGuffin described it to The Associated Press as “like ping pong on steroids.”
The court, at 44x20 feet, looks like a small tennis court with a net across the middle. There are serves, groundstrokes and volleys. But rather than a racquet, players use a solid paddle, and rather than a tennis ball, they use a plastic wiffle ball. Pickles are not involved.
McGuffin, like many high-level pickleball players, didn’t grow up playing pickleball. He played tennis for a couple of years in junior college and eventually become the head tennis pro at several clubs in Washington. A client convinced him to pick up a pickleball paddle.
He rose to No. 1 in November 2018, and he entered this year with a goal of winning every singles match in every tournament he plays. Heading into the Tournament of Champions, he said Johns had already beaten him. Twice.
Johns also started with tennis. He played for 10 years and spent a few years playing competitive table tennis, too, before he found pickleball in 2016.
They competed in the semifinal round of Wednesday’s Men’s Singles Open Pro winner’s bracket. The loser would be forced into the loser’s bracket of the double-elimination tournament. Pickleball is scored up to 11 points per game and is best two out of three. Johns opened the first game with a 5-0 run, and it never got close. He won both games and took the match 11-6, 11-5, to advance to the final.
McGuffin only needed one win in the losers bracket to face Johns again in the final. Kyle Yates didn’t make it easy, thanks in part to some coaching from his occasional doubles partner Johns (clearly the rivalry is real). Yates still lost 11-9, 11-7. But keep in mind McGuffin needed to beat Johns twice in the final; that’s a lot of energy spent just to reach it.
The final showdown featured a special guest: Congressman Rob Bishop, apparently a big pickleball fan. His kids, he said, bought him some paddles and balls for Christmas. Some of his staffers in Washington, D.C., also enjoy the game.
“I’ve played maybe 10 times in my life to this point, so I’m a rudimentary beginner. But it’s fascinating,” he said. “Until I watch these guys and realize what real pickleball players can do. Then I feel intimidated.”
He looked on from the northwest corner of the court as Johns once again took an early lead, with both players darting across the court, skidding their tennis shoes across the concrete, leaving no doubt that this sport takes extreme fitness. This time, though, McGuffin kept it close. “C’mon!” he grunted. “C’mon!”
Johns followed. “C’mon Ben!” he said. “Push it!” And push it he did, taking the game 11-8. McGuffin deflated from there, dropping the second set 11-4 as Johns let out a loud “Let’s goooo!” The win was Johns’ third straight singles title at the Tournament of Champions.
At 20 years old, one could reasonably imagine Johns would feel pressure to be the face of a growing sport. He agrees that it’s a unique opportunity. But pressure? He’ll leave that to the professionals.
“I’m still playing the game more for fun than anything,” he said. “So when you do something that you enjoy, and it’s not actually your job, I feel like there’s a lot less pressure.”
McGuffin, one of the few pickleball professionals, feels roughly the same. Pickleball is still small enough, he explained, that he often enjoys post-contest beers with fellow competitors.
“I don’t look that far into it,” he said. “If I was making a couple million a year I probably would. But since I’m making peanuts — no.”
The Tournament of Champions’ Men’s Singles Open Pro tournament paid $700 to third-place Yates, $1,200 to second-place McGuffin and $1,700 to first-place Johns. Johns still doesn’t know whether he’ll end up pursuing professional pickleball or focus on his budding engineering career.
“That’s three years away,” he said, “so once I graduate, I’ll let you know.”
If pickleball continues to grow, as McGuffin and Johns hope it does, it could end up being more lucrative. It’s already on its way. Before Johns posed for photos with his check and trophy, he asked for a brief pause and darted back to his spot under the main tent. He’d forgotten something important.
He’d almost forgotten some sponsored apparel: a Franklin Pickleball hat.