Photo courtesy of Pickleball Professionals Association
By: Ben Arnet & Christian Riley Dutcher
KOMU 8 Sports
In recent years, Pickleball has exploded in popularity. A 2023 Sports and Fitness Industry Association report says pickleball has grown 87.5% year-over-year, and 158.6% over the last three years.
8.9 million people played pickleball in 2022, according to the same report, with the number of new participants exceeding the total number of pickleball players in 2021. The sport has a professional tour, league, and will create international tournaments next year with hopes of being added to the 2032 Olympics in Brisbane, Australia.
With all the attention the sport is receiving, you may be surprised to learn that the world’s best player lives right here in mid-Missouri.
Ashland native Dylan Frazier, 22, balances a full-time playing schedule while pursuing his undergraduate degree from the University of Missouri’s Trulaske College of Business.
Eight years ago, Frazier picked up the sport while visiting his grandfather in Florida. Today, Frazier is the No. 1 player in men’s doubles after he and JW Johnson won the Orange County Cup on June 30.
“I probably would not believe myself if I went back in time and told myself that,” Frazier said. “It’s been such a crazy journey, but now I am even more motivated and inspired to try and hold the position.”
Frazier competes in two national tournaments a month, on average, and serves as a pickleball and tennis instructor, all while attending the University. Frazier says he is cautiously optimistic about the sport joining the Olympics, but would love the opportunity to represent his country.
“If that opportunity presented itself, it would be awesome,” Frazier said. “There’s a lot of time between now and then. If I’m still in kind of a similar position to that I am now, and could represent the United States, that would be an honor.”
For now, the 22-year-old is focusing on the tournaments ahead of him. Frazier will compete in the Kansas City Open next weekend in Overland Park.
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