The game of Pickleball is certainly a feel-good story right now, in a nation that badly needs one. America’s fastest growing sport isn’t just “having a moment,” right now. It has truly taken off ever since the covid-19 pandemic. One leading feel good story, in this sport of happiness, is husband-and-wife professional pickleball duo Ryler DeHeart and Megan Fudge.
The couple met at the University of Illinois, where they both played tennis competitively. They returned to the state where they first met, this time in suburban Highland Park, for the APP 2023 Chicago Open on Labor Day weekend.
“We met on the U of I tennis courts at Atkins Tennis Center,” Fudge told me this week, in an exclusive interview conducted on the APP practice court.
“Ryler graduated ’06, I started ’06, so we missed each other in school, but he came back to Champaign, which was his home base when playing pro tennis, and the rest is history.”
Illini men’s tennis is national power program with a rich history.
Craig Tiley, CEO of Tennis Australia, holds the school record for all-time coaching wins. The South African won one national title and nine Big Ten titles while leading the Illini, and he was later considered a very strong candidate to assume the University of Illinois Athletic Director position, when it last opened up in 2016.
Tiley turned it down.
Pickleball APP Chicago Open Broadcast Info
Saturday, 9/2 | 12 pm CT – 6 pm ET | ESPN+
Sunday, 9/3 | 10 am CT – 5 pm ET | ESPN+
Tuesday, 9/5 | 8 pm CT – 9 pm CT | ESPN2
“2002 is when Ryler and Craig won the national title,” Fudge continued.
“He was on the team that year, and there’s actually a 20-year celebration this weekend. Craig Tiley is flying in to celebrate the reunion.
“Ryler is actually in a lot of trouble for playing pickleball this weekend, but we’re going to take the kids on Sunday to Champaign and show them the banner at Atkins, and we bleed orange and blue.”
The couple enjoys watching Illinois Fighting Illini athletics, and they were very plugged in to the U of I community in Tampa, FL when they resided there.
This year has been huge for that specific alumni group, as Illini football made the Reliaquest Bowl, staged at the home of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. It was the first New Year’s Day bowl game in a decade-and-a-half for the Illini.
Pickleball APP Chicago Open Venue Info
Danny Cunniff Park, 2700 Trail Way
Highland Park, Illinois 60035
Fudge and DeHeart are traveling to all their matches on the APP Tour this season in a RV. The recreational vehicle is both transportation and accommodation for the couple, as well as their children, Lily and J.R. (who are also competing the APP, in the 3.0 division).
Also joining them are their two pet dogs: Max, a pug/beagle mix and Lexi, a rescue lab. Their RV is emblazoned with a Fat Tire logo, as the New Belgium brewer is one of the tour’s main sponsors.
And yes, Vlasic, the pickle maker, is literally a pickleball sponsor too. But perhaps the most appropriate sponsor is the AARP (American Association of Retired People), as this is a sport that actor/comedian Jeff Daniels famously called “half court basketball for elderly people.”
That stereotype is indeed true- retired people really do love this game.
And why not? As it’s accessible to absolutely everyone.
Pickleball APP Chicago Open Tickets
$15. Walk-up tickets for single-day sessions available at the venue, doors open at 8 am CT.
Paul M. Banks is the owner/manager of The Sports Bank. He’s also the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He’s written for numerous publications, including the New York Daily News, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune. He regularly appears on NTD News and WGN News Now. Follow the website on Twitter and Instagram.