By Izzy Seckler
A silly name for a serious game. Pickleball is a paddle sport invented in 1965 that combines tennis, badminton, and ping-pong into a fast-paced game. The simple rules make it an easy sport to get into for all ages, but a more competitive pickleball scene has quickly overtaken New York City. For young professionals and retirees alike, pickleball is “highly contagious“, so naturally it has also become a high-priority subject of interest for Rockefeller University.
Two Cooks in the Kitchen
Rockefeller University has a long history of providing outdoor spaces for group sports. The newest development is on the ‘Multi-Sport Court’, which initially just housed a tennis court and a basketball net. Tim Blanchfield, the Fitness Manager of Rockefeller University, and Alex Kogan, the Associate VP of Physical Facilities and Housing, designed the most recent experiment in Rockefeller sports and facilities history to test the hypothesis that if you build a pickleball court, the picklers will come.
In early 2021, the two decided to expand the tennis court at the 68th street end of campus to build two pickleball courts. At the time, when most facilities were reopening for the first time after COVID-19-related closures, the pickleball hype had already descended upon NYC as a great community-based activity. After months of leading online fitness classes via Zoom, Tim was also eager to get Rockefeller members motivated for fitness outside!
First came the introductory classes, then came the weekly afternoon ‘pickleball socials’. Within a few months, multiple labs and departments on campus had even organized private group sessions with Tim. The pickleball courts were a huge hit! But organizing all of the pickleball events while managing the growing interest from new players was no small feat – Tim took on the development of an entirely new racket-sport community.
Dr. Seth Darst, head of the Laboratory of Molecular Biophysics, became an active member of the RU pickleball community over the past several months. “I would just like to stress that we should all be very grateful to Tim Blanchfield for organizing all of the pickleball activities and for creating a competitive but fun, sportsmanlike environment for everyone,” he says.
When asked about why he and so many others caught the pickleball bug so quickly, Tim emphasized that “it’s not just about sports. It’s about self-improvement. Whether it’s work or personal relationships, you should always be trying to improve!” The gratification that comes with practicing a new skill, in combination with the fun atmosphere of group activity, is a perfect way to spend one or two hours of your day.
Tim’s approach to pickleball at Rockefeller actually parallels the way many scientists approach research in the lab. It takes discipline and motivation to improve your gameplay, just as discipline and motivation are two key components of developing quality scientific experiments.
“It’s an evolution – some people get it on their own, some people have to see it, some people have to be told… so it’s a different journey for everyone, but you have to take it. If you don’t have a focus on something you need improvement on, then you will only get marginally better.”
It is no surprise that this sentiment resonates with a community of people dedicated to biomedical research, a continuously self-iterating process.
The People Want Pickle
It’s no secret that having access to Rockefeller’s multi-sport court is one of the most coveted New York exclusive memberships (aside from Costco). The price to play at Central Park’s new seasonal courts at Wollman Rink might cost you upwards of $60 for just two hours of court time. Local leagues run by organizations like ZogSports or Volo Sports cost nearly $200 for 6 weeks of weekly game time. Several public parks have courts, but you’ll have to either fight the retirees for your spot in the queue or wait a few hours for a court to free up. With the excitement for pickleball skyrocketing this summer, we have to thank Tim Blanchfield and Alex Kogan for creating such an accessible and welcoming pickleball community – just don’t ask the tennis players how they feel about sharing court space.
Unfortunately, the outdoor multi-court and the indoor pickleball court are both limited to card-carrying Rockefeller members only. Most students, faculty, and employees of Memorial Sloan Kettering and Weill Cornell have to rely on the friendliness of Rockefeller members to gain access. Choose your pickle friends wisely. Hopefully, one day soon, we will have a Tri-I open pickleball tournament. As of now, popular demand for pickle playing time is just too high for the courts to accommodate players beyond Rockefeller University having direct ability to sign up for court time.
That’s a big reason why this past winter, Tim took the opportunity to convert the old dining hall area in the lobby of the Weiss building into a full-sized indoor pickleball court once Rockefeller’s physical therapy moved to the gym in Founder’s Hall. Even as the colder weather rolled in, the demand for pickle reached an all-time high for seasoned players and first-time dinkers alike. With the indoor court available, Tim was also able to run regular introduction to pickleball classes and offer specialized coaching with the help of a ball-return machine and a wall-mounted dink pad for technical practice. For whichever level you want to play at, there’s a pickleball group for you at Rockefeller.
Dan Oh, a graduate student co-mentored by the Darnell and Heintz Lab, has been one of the most active members of the pickleball community since its beginning. “Pickleball has been such an amazing addition to my student experience here at RU! Not only is it a fun way to stay active and fit, I’ve also been able to meet numerous people on campus that I never would have met before, all the way from first-year students to Heads of Labs,” Dan commented.
Pickleball draws in a lot of ex-competitive athletes who still want to play a high-energy sport, but are looking for something less physically demanding than tennis or soccer.
“Pickleball is a fun way to get back into group sports as an ex-competitive athlete. It brings an energy to working out that I’ve been missing since leaving competitive tennis behind,” says Molly Monge, a second year Tri-I MD-PhD student. However, she adds that “the best part about pickleball at Rockefeller is networking with PIs, graduate students, postdocs, and those with non-science careers at RU. It’s often the highlight of my day!”
If competition is not something you are looking for, pickleball is also one of the most beginner-friendly games that allows you to improve hand-eye coordination in a short amount of time with practice!
Serving Up that Competitive Spirit
At the first tournament held this past October, 48 people showed up ready to compete in either the Open or Novice division. Alvaro Hobbs, a graduate student in the Victora Lab, is the three-time reigning champion of the pickleball tournaments. He is a life-long tennis player who has mixed feelings about the rise of pickleball on campus. “Although I’m a bit salty that the tennis court reservations are now more competitive, I see how addicting pickleball is and it’s been fun seeing how many people have picked it up/gotten really good. It’s more social/faster-paced compared to tennis. Although for now I’m still a tennis snob, I’m sure I’ll be fully converted to pickleball at some point – in my retirement.”
“I’ve been lucky to have great partners during these tournaments, and I plan on continuing to dominate every single one during my tenure here.”
Ready to step on the court yourself?
Community-building is typically a natural extension of a team sport like pickleball, but Tim played an instrumental role in connecting people from across the Rockefeller community. Earlier this year, Tim formed small groups of people based on their initial skill level and availability for “Pickleball 5’s” – a dedicated weekly time for a given group of five people to get together and play. His approach, basically an initial pickleball blind-date for pickleball, successfully brought players together who would otherwise have never found each other. However, Pickleball 5’s are limited to Rockefeller personnel for now. If you are a non-Rockefeller affiliate of the Tri-I community interested in joining the pickleball network, you can reach out to Tim Blanchfield.
Tim and Alex are currently planning the next phase of the pickleball experiment. They want to paint two more full courts over the current tennis court so that more people can play at any given time. The new courts are expected to be completed by the end of this summer. Hopefully, with more court availability, the pickleball community will be able to host Tri-I players and more open events.
Keep your eye out for Tim’s next email about next pickleball introductory classes, weekly socials, and tournaments.
