By: Lane Johnson

Pickleball is a sport that is stereotypically popular with older people. Many who hear the word pickleball think of an elderly person playing the game in their free time and nothing much more. Sam Dia, pickleball instructor at Casper College, and chief operating officer of the recently opened Casper Pickleball and Sports Complex in town begs to differ. 

Dia teaches pickleball at CC. He started when the college added the sport as an option to satisfy the physical education credit two years ago. For the past four years and counting, Dia also teaches a class through CC’s Osher Lifelong Learning Institute program. The credit class at CC limits the roster to 12 people because a max of four people can play at one time, and there is only room for three courts in the Liesinger Hall gym. Die explained the benefits of pickleball

“It’s truly the most social game. It’s good for your mental as well as your physical health,” he said. Dia added that, “People live longer healthier lives that do play pickleball.” 

Dia said he hopes to bring more awareness to the sport and bring it into the youths’ eye. Opening a pickleball complex in town was his first stepping stone to reaching this goal. Dia said he believes that pickleball is “multi-generational” and “easier on the body” than other competitive sports that can be played after one’s school days. 

There are eight students in Dia’s current pickleball class, all of whom have expressed increased interest in pickleball and playing the game, even after only the first few weeks of class. Dia asked his students how interested they felt about the game on a scale of 1-10 on the first day of class. The average answer then was around five or six. He asked the same question four weeks later, and the answer increased to nine or ten. 

Tyler Hill, one of Dia’s students, said that he really only chose pickleball at first because he needed a PE credit. After the first few weeks, Hill said he is now happy that he chose to take it. When asked about playing pickleball after the class is done he said, “Oh yeah, without a doubt. This game’s super fun and I could see myself staying healthy and active playing it.” 

In just a few weeks, Hill’s outlook on the game and who it was played by drastically changed.

Dia said he hopes that more youth will pick up interest in the game with a means to play right here in Casper. Located at 1911 Dunlap Way there should be no excuse to not try the game out and see if it’s enjoyable. More information can be found at www.casperpickleball.com.