Baylor Pickleball Club Set to Compete at DUPR National Collegiate Tournament
Baylor Pickleball Club to Compete at National Collegiate Tournament
WACO, Texas (KWTX) – The Baylor Pickleball Club, founded just over a year ago by Paul Underwood, is gearing up to compete at the DUPR National Collegiate Tournament later this week. What started as a small club has now grown into an official club sport on campus, with ten Baylor pickleballers set to take on 500 of the best players from 64 colleges and universities.
“It has been a whirlwind,” said Underwood. “Just going from nothing last year to now we’re official club sport on campus, and we’re headed to nationals in Dallas.”
The club includes top players like Landry Laywell, a Baylor law student, and sophomores Peyton Pogach and Gabe Gomez, who are one of the top male doubles pairs in the country. Freshman Laura Soto expressed her excitement about competing at nationals, saying, “Most people here probably play every day. We’re putting in hours a week. Just to get the bid for nationals is so fun. Definitely getting there and seeing all of the other teams will be a surreal moment, and I’m just happy to be there.”
Despite facing tough competition, the Baylor pickleballers are confident in their abilities. Pogach stated, “We feel like we’re at the same level as them. If we play the best game that we know we can play, we can definitely come out on top.”
Underwood sees the tournament as an opportunity to grow the Baylor pickleball brand and position the club as a top program for future players. “We don’t have any students coming to Baylor because of pickleball, but I can see that happening in the future,” he said. “We need to position ourselves as a top program and as an option for some of the very finest pickleball players.”
The DUPR Collegiate National Championship will take place from Nov. 1-3 at the Brookehaven Country Club in Dallas. For more information on Baylor Pickleball, visit the Baylor Club Pickleball Team on Facebook.
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