Nice Get! Cross-Campus Pickleball Tournament is an Ace

TCU’s first all-campus pickleball tournament presented a chance for staff, faculty, students and alumni to join together outside of the office and the classroom. 

The tournament featured nine teams in total, with two teams coming from the student pickleball club, three teams from an employee pickleball club, two teams from the Silver Frogs group and two teams featuring students specifically from the Burnett School of Medicine.  

Tee Tyler, associate professor of social work, launched the tournament as an opportunity to bring people together. 

“I played pickleball over Thanksgiving in 2022. My sister played pickleball, and I had never played before, and I knew she was passionate about it,” he said. “While playing, I thought, ‘This is a game that a 60-year-old and a 16-year-old can both play, and it’s accessible to both and both can get into it and join.’” 

Initially anticipated to be a small group, Tyler was surprised by the amount of interest he got in forming an employee pickleball club. After opening up a Qualtrics survey where faculty and staff could sign up, the survey was flooded with responses. 

“Within an hour, 50 people signed up,” he said. “Overnight, 100 people signed up.” 

The employee pickleball club has been a great chance for people to come together from all over campus. In total, there are 170 members in the employee pickleball club. He said he loves seeing who showed up, including faculty and staff from the Neeley School of Business, student affairs and human resources.

“They’re getting to know each other and they’re becoming friends, and it’s been a really neat thing to witness this semester,” he said.  

Following the success of the initial employee group, Tyler saw an opportunity to expand. After inviting members from the Silver Frogs group – a group of those 50 and older in TCU Extended Education – medical school students and the student club, pickleball is connecting Horned Frogs from all over.  

“Not only is the game fun, but it’s also a really good game for building community,” Tyler said.  

Tournament Results:
First Place: Burnett School of Medicine
AJ Khawaja 
Mebeli Becerra 

Second Place: Burnett School of Medicine
Sean Canfield    
Timur Seckin     

Third Place: TCU Employee Club
Cole Marchi  
Sam Davis