Once a sport associated primarily with the senior sect, pickleball is gaining popularity through the generations. DJ Zeiler is proof of that.
A 2023 graduate of Lancaster High School, Zeiler is addicted to the sport and he’s pretty darn good at it. He recently qualified at a 4.0 level in singles and doubles play for the World Pickleball Tour Amateur Championships in Rockwall, Texas, January 11-15, 2024.
“The thing about pickleball is people in their 50s can compete and be on the same level as people in their 20s,” he said. “The average age [of players] used to be in the 60s and now I think it’s in the 30s.”
Zeiler’s been playing pickleball most of his 18 years, starting when he would visit his grandparents at their winter home in Florida. But he got serious about the sport a year ago.
“My cousin plays and we were at a family reunion with a wedding last year and we played. He said, yo, let’s play in this tournament” in Pittsburgh.
Zeiler’s cousin, Michael Magill, 23, is his doubles…..
