LOGAN – Utah State University’s pickleball club is helping their rival team to be able to compete in tournaments.
Olivia Philips is the president of the pickleball club at Utah State University. She competed in collegiate pickleball on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays but she had noticed BYU pickleball club pulling out of tournaments. She said that “it irked my sense of justice a little bit.”
She wanted to try and help Brigham Young University pickleball club to be able to compete in collegiate pickleball.
BYU created their pickleball club early this year and had their first tournament in February. Natalie Hansen is a player at BYU and has played in tournaments. She said the only reason they pulled out of tournaments was because “we weren’t allowed to play Sunday,” and, “we had to withdraw from the tournament, which was honestly devastating.”
BYU does not compete on Sundays because its sponsor institution, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, believes Sundays are meant to be a day of worship.
The petition now has over 300 signatures, all coming from Utah State and BYU students, players and supporters, says Philips.
Philips started the petition to change the scheduling of collegiate pickleball. The hope is to have collegiate pickleball on Fridays and Saturdays.
“I’m so grateful that there is a petition going to start this,” Hansen exclaimed, “idea of not playing on Sunday because for me Sunday is like a day of worship.”