The Little Plastic Ball That Changed My Life
By Jyl Steinback • September 9, 2026 • 8 min read
How pickleball became my playground, my community and the inspiration for a new way to connect
MY PICKLEBALL STORY began 17 years ago, before I ever picked up a paddle.
I had founded Shape Up Us, a nonprofit focused on preventing childhood obesity and promoting wellness, and one of our new board members happened to be a Scottsdale pickleball ambassador. She joined with a mission: she wanted to help bring pickleball into schools.
I loved the idea. It was active, social and something children and families could do together, so we began incorporating pickleball into our community wellness efforts.
There was just one problem. I didn’t actually play.
That changed a few years later when a healthcare organization hired me to produce a six-city tour of community events. In each city, I worked with the local pickleball ambassador. When things slowed down, inevitably someone would put a paddle in my hand and say, “Come on, let’s play.” That was how I learned pickleball.
There were no formal lessons. I learned city by city and court by court from people who loved the game and were happy to teach it. One person would work on my serve. Someone else would show me where to stand or when to move up. Mostly, we just played. By the end of the tour, I was hooked.
When I returned home, my community had converted tennis courts into six pickleball courts. I joined the association in 2019 and started playing regularly, eventually playing six or seven days a week.
More Than a Game
When COVID arrived, pickleball took on a completely different role in my life. Like everyone else, I suddenly lost much of my normal routine and social interaction. But I could still get outside. I could still move. And I could still see people on the pickleball court. For those few hours, life felt a little more normal.
Looking back, I realize that was when pickleball became much more than exercise for me. It became my community.
Some of my closest friendships began with people I met at the courts. That’s one of the things I love most about the sport. You don’t need a formal introduction or a reason to start talking to someone. You just need four people who want to play.
“We need a fourth.”
If you play pickleball, you know exactly what happens next. Someone you have never met steps onto the court and, within a few minutes, you’re talking, laughing, keeping score and probably giving each other a hard time. I love open play for that reason. I have met people of all ages and from all kinds of backgrounds whom I probably never would have crossed paths with otherwise. Pickleball gives you an easy way in.
What You Learn Across the Net
After thousands of games, I’ve also learned that you can find out quite a bit about someone on a pickleball court.
Do they laugh when they miss an easy shot? Do they encourage their partner? How seriously do they take a questionable line call? Do they compliment a good shot from the other team? You see people’s personalities pretty quickly. Maybe that’s one reason so many friendships and relationships begin around pickleball. You aren’t sitting across from someone trying to make conversation. You’re doing something together.
I’ve seen plenty of relationships start on the court. I’ve even witnessed an on-court proposal. For singles, I think pickleball has something that traditional dating often lacks. There’s less pressure because the activity comes first. You already know you have something in common, and you don’t have to spend the entire time thinking about what to say next.
You also get to see a side of someone that’s difficult to capture in a dating profile. Are they competitive but fun? Can they laugh at themselves? Are they encouraging? How do they handle losing? Do you enjoy being around them? Those things tell me much more about a person than a list of hobbies ever could.
The Comment That Started Something
As I spent more time on the courts, I kept seeing friendships and relationships develop naturally. Eventually, one of my single friends said something that stuck with me.
“If a woman doesn’t play pickleball, what would we have in common? I play six days a week!”
I laughed, but I understood exactly what he meant. For people who really love pickleball, it isn’t something they do for an hour every few weeks. It’s part of their social life. It’s where their friends are. It’s how they spend their free time. For some people, finding a partner who enjoys that lifestyle matters.
That conversation eventually led me to create Pickleball Dating.
I had already developed two apps, Homeopathic Helper and Clap4Health!, so building something through technology wasn’t entirely new territory for me. But I didn’t want to simply create another place for people to swipe through profiles. The idea was to help people who already share this passion find one another and then encourage them to connect in real life.
Some people may be looking for a relationship. Others may be looking for a mixed-doubles partner, new friends or someone to play with when they travel. Pickleball gives them an immediate point of connection.
The app can make the introduction. What happens after that is up to them.
Getting People Onto the Court
That’s also why I believe in creating opportunities for singles to meet away from their phones. Pickleball makes that unusually easy.
Put people on a court and much of the awkwardness of a traditional singles event disappears. Nobody has to walk across a room and figure out how to introduce themselves. You rotate players, mix up the teams and let the game do some of the work. I’d love to see more singles nights, club mixers, pickleball trips and other events built around that idea. People can come alone without feeling as though they’re standing alone. They have something to do from the moment they arrive.
And if they meet someone they want to play another game with, even better.
Why Adults Need to Play
One thing pickleball has reminded me is how easy it is for adults to stop playing. We work. We take care of families. We run errands. We fill our calendars with responsibilities. Somewhere along the way, many of us lose the simple experience of doing something because it’s fun. Pickleball brought that back into my life.
I can spend hours chasing a plastic ball around a court, laughing with friends and getting ridiculously excited about a great point. I’ll say I’m leaving after one more game, and everyone knows I probably don’t mean it. There’s something wonderful about that.
It’s also why I think the sport has become such a powerful way for people to connect. You’re meeting people while doing something you genuinely enjoy, not because you’re forcing yourself into a social situation for the purpose of meeting someone. The friendship or relationship becomes a byproduct of the experience.
Just Keep Playing
Pickleball has been part of my life for years now, and it continues to surprise me. It has given me exercise, friendships, a community and experiences I never expected when that first ambassador suggested bringing the sport into schools 17 years ago.
It has also taught me a lesson I try to remember off the court: not every shot is going to go where you want it to. You adjust and get ready for the next one. That’s true in pickleball, in business and certainly in relationships.
I don’t know how many people I’ve met over the years simply because somebody needed another player. But I know some of those people became an important part of my life. That’s still my favorite thing about the game. You show up with a paddle expecting to play pickleball. You never know who you’re going to meet.
About Jyl Steinback
Jyl Steinback is the founder of Pickleball Dating™, a platform that helps pickleball players connect for dating, friendship and play. A longtime pickleball player and health and wellness advocate, she created the platform after years of watching relationships and friendships form naturally on the court. Steinback is also the founder and executive director of Shape Up Us, a nonprofit focused on childhood health and wellness.
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