Students compete at UAC's pickleball tournament night

Ansley Miller photos: Students compete in the second round of the pickleball tournament at the Troy Recreation Center.

Students got the chance to participate in a friendly tournament of a particular paddle sport. For a night of fun and competition, Troy University’s Activities Council managed a pickleball tournament at the campus’ recreation center.

“This event is just giving us a break from midterms and just starting back into the year,” said UAC’s Weekend Event Coordinator Javius Pruitt, who is a sophomore early education major from Birmingham, Alabama. “With UAC, we have multiple events, and we had taken a break for spring break, and we are just kicking everything back off again.”

Students organized their own teams before the tournament to battle it out in a best-of-three format on the court.

“I think playing with people from different parts of the world was my favorite part,” said Bosi Filippo, one of the students who participated in the tournament and a computer science major from Italy. “For example, my teammate is from Sweden, and I think that that was really cool.”

At the end of the tournament, each of the three winning teams received a prize, including coolers, water bottles as well as pickleball paddles and balls. Bragging rights and photo evidence of their victory were also included.

“My friend invited me, and I did not know the rules, nor how to play, so we practiced for a few hours and then played it like badminton,” said Tsuong Nguyen, a freshman nursing major from Vietnam. “Pickleball is such an amazing game.

“After we played the game, I'm interested in learning about the game even more and I want to improve my skills.”

Students who did not compete in the tournament watched the competitive matchups on the side, cheering on their rooted team.

“These types of events are nice to just meet different people,” Fillipo said. “You are in college, so there are a lot of people to hang out with and have fun with all together.”

“I feel like the turnout was quite wonderful, especially with us just coming back from spring break,” Pruitt said. “It’s just a great event for right now.”

At the end of the tournament, it was Team Neymar taking home first place, Pickle Perros in second and Fyfan in third. To stay updated for all upcoming events and updates from this organization, follow @troyuac on Instagram.