Dating in Pro Pickleball: Love, Logistics, and Romance on the Road

The pickleball tour is a lot of things: competitive, glamorous, exhausting. But romantic? Well, that's complicated.

In a recent episode of the "Balls Deep" podcast, hosts Ava Ignatowich and Camila Zilveti tackled one of the sport's most delicate topics: what it's actually like to date when you're living out of a suitcase, competing against your peers, and constantly in the public eye.

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Their conversation cuts through the Instagram-filtered version of tour life to reveal something messier, more human, and honestly, pretty relatable.

A Great Place to Meet, a Tough Place to Date

Here's the thing about pickleball that makes it different from most sports: it's genuinely social. And co-ed by nature.

You're standing three feet from your opponent. You can talk between points. You're basically forced to make friends just to get a game going. As Zilveti points out, most recreational games require four people, so you've got to convince three other humans to like you enough to show up.

That accessibility is part of what makes the sport so appealing. People aren't showing up to the courts with their egos strapped on like armor. They're there to have fun, get some exercise, and yeah, meet people.

But, they note, the professional tour operates under completely different rules.

The Distance Problem

When you're a pro player on tour, you're gone. Like, really gone. Half the year, sometimes more depending on how well you're doing.

Your significant other back home? They're watching you on a live-stream from a afar, wondering when you'll be back.

Zilveti and Ignatowich both have partners who travel with them occasionally, but they're quick to acknowledge that not everyone has that flexibility. A normal job doesn't usually allow someone to just pack up and follow their partner around the country for tournaments. And honestly, why should it? That's a massive ask.

The math doesn't work for a lot of people. You're asking your partner to sacrifice their career, their stability, their normal life to watch you warm up on a side court.

When Your Coworker Is Your Significant Other

Now imagine dating someone who's also on tour. You see them at tournaments, you compete against them (or with them in mixed doubles), and then you go home to completely different places.

You're together at tournaments but apart at home. You don't get the normal relationship rhythms. You don't get to just hang out on a Tuesday night. Everything is compressed into tournament weekends, which are stressful and public.

And if things go south? That's where it can get really messy.

Age, Gender, and the Dating Pool Problem

The dating landscape on tour isn't exactly equal, they say. If you're an older woman for tour standards (say, 30-plus) looking to date men, your options skew younger. If you're college-aged, you might not have much in common with players who are 10 or 15 years older.

There's also the LGBTQ+ representation to consider. Ignatowich and Zilveti note that there are plenty of queer players on the PPA tour, which is awesome. But they acknowledge they're speaking from a heterosexual perspective based on their own experiences.

The Positive Spin (Because There Is One)

Before wrapping up, Ignatowich and Zilveti make a point to end on something hopeful. If you're looking for love, the pickleball courts are genuinely a good place to start. The sport often attracts people who are friendly, social, and genuinely interested in having fun.

They even suggest a pro tip: if you play pickleball and you're dating, put it in your profile. People love pickleball. It's an immediate conversation starter and common ground.

And if you find someone who also loves the sport? You've got built-in date ideas. Trips to different cities. Tournaments to watch together. A shared passion that goes beyond just liking the same Netflix show.

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