
About 20 years after pickleball made its first big splash in Utah during the Huntsman World Senior Games, a rising generation of young Utahn athletes is taking pickleball to a new level as they aim to go pro — and they’re sharing some lessons they’ve learned along the way.
The Sundance League Playoffs, held on Dec. 2, 2024, offered a snapshot of Utah’s current pickleball climate. With $20,000 in prize money on the line, the competition consisted of four brackets and featured a variety of Utah’s rising pickleball stars.
Interviews with several of these athletes — and a sampling of their personal stories, ambitions and backgrounds — offer insight into the state’s pickleball zeitgeist and a projection of its future.
Meet Elsie Hendershot, an 11-year-old girl from Mapleton, with a DUPR score of 4.3 for single-player pickleball matches. DUPR is a method of calculating and tracking skill level, with a score of about 5.0 or higher required for professional competitions.
Despite only two years of playing experience and her young age, her talent has attracted the attention of professionals such as UPA Tour Pro Allyce Jones of Pleasant Grove.
“When she really caught fire was with Allyce Jones,” Cade Hendershot, Elsie Hendershot’s father, said. “Allyce called us up and said, ‘Hey, I’m a great pro, but I’m an even better coach and I’d love to spend some time with your daughter.’”
Elsie Hendershot was extended an invitation to join Team Boydston for the Sundance League Playoffs. After hours of intense playing, they won second place in the tournament.
The youngest player in the event by far, Elsie Hendershot said the age differences between herself and her opponents didn’t faze her. She’s learned valuable life skills from playing such a competitive sport, she said.
“It’s fun,” she said. “It’s helped me be able to control my emotions a lot.”
Jacob Tullis, with a 4.7 DUPR rating, played for Team Smith. He’s a recent BYU graduate in general business and international development and played tennis for BYU from 2017-2019.
Tullis first got recruited into pickleball through a friend, now his team captain. The Sundance League Playoffs was his biggest pickleball tournament to date, and he said he noticed a difference in sports culture from his tennis-playing days.
“When I was playing tennis, it was a lot of pressure — and I love tennis, nothing bad to say about tennis. I loved it, but this energy is so fun,” he said. “Everyone loves each other and it’s just really, really fun — a really good time.”
Tullis has also noticed differences in his personal approach to pickleball over other sports.
“In tennis, I always played better when my heart rate was above 200 — just high octane, go hard. In this, I feel like I play better just having a good time, and I feel like that’s a good lesson for life when you’re under pressure,” Tullis said. “You play better when you’re having fun.”
When asked how pickleball has affected the rest of his life, Tullis didn’t hesitate to identify his newfound friends as an unexpected blessing. The professional community, in particular, is a tight-knit and supportive group.
“I feel like I’ve built some really long-lasting friendships,” he said. “The outcome of this is we’re still going to keep playing and keep having a good time. Even the winners here; we’re all going to be friends.”
Going forward, Tullis said he hopes to keep playing and being involved in the energy surrounding pickleball in Utah.
“I hope there is a future,” he said. “The atmosphere here is just fire.”
Another player, Dodo Kong, also has high hopes for her future in pickleball.
“My long-term pickleball goal is to become a professional pickleball player and get signed by (the) PPA,” she said. “Ultimately, I want to be top three in all divisions: gender, mixed (and) singles.”
The Professional Pickleball Association is among several professional pickleball organizations, including Major League Pickleball (MLP).
Kong is from Dongguan, China, and attended BYU before transferring to UVU to study business management. She first found out about pickleball through work events and “fell in love” with it, she said.
“I like to play pickleball because it makes me happy and I get to meet new people and make friends,” she said. “I also get to travel to different places to play pickleball, which is very fun.”
Although she has only been playing pickleball for a year and a half, she already has a DUPR score of 5.36. Team Hall, her Sundance League team, won first place in the playoffs.
Like her peers, Kong credited pickleball as a source of growth and goodness in her life.
“Pickleball (has) affected my life in many ways,” she said. “It keeps my lifestyle healthy and active. It helps me to get out of my shell and meet various people.”
While this set of playoffs has concluded, the lessons and opportunities pickleball provides are ongoing — and not just for the pros. As Elsie Hendershot, Tullis and Kong exhibit, pickleball acts as an equalizer — a sport for everyone: all genders, all ages, all demographics and all stages of life.
“It provides a community for me that I feel I’m belonging to,” Kong said.
To learn more about pickleball leaderboards or to get involved, visit https://pickleball.com/.
