Inside KC’s Black pickleball club: ‘Like a picnic’ that fosters camaraderie
During his on-call downtime as a firefighter for the Kansas City, Kansas, Fire Department, Brandan Jackson likes to stay active.
“People don’t understand, we’re here 24 hours at a time. Sometimes we will get one or two calls, sometimes five or six, sometimes none. In that downtime, we have a weight room, pickleball court, whatever comes to mind,” Jackson said.
During one of those downtime periods, Jackson started playing pickleball with some fellow firefighters. At first, he wasn’t great at it — ”I got my butt kicked,” he said — but the former high school basketball player developed a competitive streak.
Jackson began playing at courts around town, like Chicken N Pickle in Kansas City. One thing started to stand out as he explored different pickleball venues around the metro: He was often the only Black player on the court.
“I’d be the only ‘brother’ there, you know what I mean? And sometimes with that, it can be nerveracking,” Jackson said. “In my head, I feel like I gotta prove what I can do because it’s rare that I’m even there, as a Black man.”
As he continued to face off against players who didn’t look like him, Jackson had an idea: What if he could start an informal group for Black folks around KC to play pickleball together, no matter their skill level?
So the Black Pickleball Club of Kansas City was born.
Getting off the ground — fast
Jackson posted a simple TikTok in September promoting his new idea.
In the video, Jackson said he recently played in his first pickleball tournament with 48 players – and he was the only Black player. He said he simply wanted to see more people that looked like him playing and embracing pickleball, which remains the fastest growing sport in the country.
Jackson, through his TikTok, invited people to play in the very first meetup of the Black Pickleball Club of Kansas City last fall. A week later, he was met with a shocking revelation: There was a huge community of Black people in KC already playing and interested in pickleball.
“I thought it was more of an intimate thing. Man, that first event I saw 100 people. I said, ‘This might be bigger than I thought,’” Jackson laughed.
Now, every Sunday the Black Pickleball Club of KC meets at SW19 at the Stadium, a pickleball venue in KC, to play. It’s not uncommon to see over 100 people from around the metro at a meetup, which some attendees likened to a “family reunion.”
Each person pays $10 per meetup and, for two hours, can play with different teammates on courts that are organized based on skill level. SW19 at the Stadium gets a cut of the admission fees.
All ages attend the club, too — from 10-year-olds to people in their 60s.
Pickleball is a less physically demanding form of tennis that is much easier on the body because of the smaller court sizes and rules that determine when and where you can hit the lightweight wiffleball. Players use a paddle, similar to a ping-pong paddle, to attempt to hit the ball past the opposing team.
It’s grown rapidly in Kansas City. Venues like SW19 at the Stadium, which features full service bar, food and over a dozen courts, are popping up around town. Lee’s Summit is opening a large outdoor complex soon, and a restaurant with two pickleball courts is coming to the Northland.
‘Almost like a picnic’
Players that have joined the Black Pickleball Club of KC have nothing but praise for the club, Jackson, and the camaraderie that has developed over the last seven months of Sundays.
“I play all around [the city],” said Steve Bowie, an attendee who said playing pickleball has helped him lose 140 pounds. “When I found out there was a Black Pickleball Club, I wanted to see how the competition was, and I was very much surprised at how much better it was than some other places.”
“It’s great, great networking. It feels almost like a picnic,” Bowie said. “It’s like ‘oh, we sitting around? Let’s go play some pickleball.’”
Rachelle Spears, a Kansas City resident, was no stranger to the sport before finding the club. Rather, she was waiting for KC to catch up.
“I saw it on Facebook, and I said ‘Finally!’” Spears said. “I had been seeing Texas and other southern states starting Black pickleball groups. I knew we needed one in Kansas City, and when I saw it pop up on my feed, I said, ‘Let’s go!’’’
Though the club is specifically catered to Black people, there is nothing preventing people of other races from playing and supporting the group. The goal is to make all players, no matter their background, feel welcome on the pickleball scene.
The meetups have been such a success that Jackson rarely gets to play himself, he said, instead relegated to managing the large gatherings by putting people on the proper courts and facilitating group play and tournaments.
“It’s a lot, managing it all. But I want to build a legacy for myself,” Jackson said.
And he hopes the pickleball club is just the beginning.
