There is a new sport growing in Argentina, and no, it’s not the 90s revival of padel — it’s pickleball. A quick, social sport that blends elements of tennis, ping-pong, and badminton, pickleball prides itself on its low barrier to entry as well as its fun, deceptively strategic nature.
In Argentina, it also embodies the locals’ social spirit.
The sport arrived in Argentina in 2018 through a series of accidental and unintended events. Back then, a well-known padel coach and club owner named Fernando Piazzese, who is now the first coach of Argentina’s national pickleball team, had never even heard the word “pickleball.”
A friend of his was shopping for padel balls in Miami when he stumbled upon a different kind of equipment entirely. He called Piazzese and told him he was bringing back gear for a new sport that was exploding in the United States. Piazzese agreed without knowing what, exactly, he had just signed up for.
“He took out the paddles, and when he took out the balls — made of plastic and full of holes — I looked at my two friends and we laughed,” Piazzese told the Herald.
“It seemed like a joke.”
Without an actual court to play on, they improvised at Piazzese’s padel club, La Chimenea. They marked up a padel court with tape and makeshift lines. To their surprise, the sound of the ball and the speed of the game were enough to get them hooked right away.
La Chimenea club “From that day, we didn’t stop,” he said. “We started playing every day, six or seven hours a day. We played and played and played,” he remembered.
Three months later, something improbable happened. When professional pickleball player Corinne Carr — then ranked No. 3 in the world — traveled to Argentina, La Chimenea appeared in her Google search for local courts. She reached out to Piazzese, met the same small group of players, and was struck by their level, shaped by years of padel and tennis.
During her stay, Carr returned to the club every day, teaching them the nuances of pickleball — the soft game, the strategy, the structure — and even showing Piazzese how to coach it properly.
After Carr left, these friends would play pickleball for hours on Sundays, when the club was closed. Not long after, another surprise followed. One of them made a bold suggestion: “Let’s host an international tournament.”
“How?” Piazzese asked.
“Don’t worry. I’ll post it on Instagram.”
The post went up: International Pickleball Tournament in Argentina. By 5 p.m., a message arrived from the Brazilian Pickleball Association — fifteen mixed doubles teams were coming.
“We were six men,” Piazzese said, laughing. “Mixed couples were coming, and we didn’t know what we were going to do.”
They went to a nearby tennis club and recruited women, explaining the rules as best they could. That November, Argentina hosted its first international pickleball tournament, which finished with a Brazilian carnival-style celebration — music, dancing, and the beginnings of something larger than they had imagined.
Fernando Piazzese, Coach of the Argentine Pickleball Team
An Argentine spirit Eight years later, locations to play today are scattered throughout Buenos Aires, from Recoleta to Nuñez, all the way to Avellaneda, where Piazzese’s multi-sport club brings in padel and pickleball players alike.
On Tuesdays and Saturdays from 6 to 9 p.m., at Sportium Alcorta in Retiro, Piazzese hosts a cancha abierta (open court) for players of all levels to compete. With a seemingly endless smile and enthusiasm, Piazzese creates the matchups, offering players high levels of competition as well as helpful tips.
In Buenos Aires, tourists have found pickleball through Google searches, Facebook groups, and digital referrals. “This is the best way to learn Spanish and actually interact with locals beyond superficial conversations,” one young American tourist told the Herald.
“I think this is the most fun I’ve had playing pickleball.”
Pickleball clubs in the city are popping up slowly but surely. Silvia Tomarrello, one of the leading developers of pickleball in the country, transformed a cement tennis court into four professional pickleball courts, now considered “the most beautiful club in Argentina” by many players.
Outside of Buenos Aires, clubs have opened in Mar del Plata, Córdoba, and Santa Fe, among other cities. Julieta Gambarte, Gonzalo Lloren Boscarino, and Alejo Lloren Boscarino have taken pickleball to Tucúman and northern Argentina, where the sport is gaining popularity.
“I saw people playing pickleball in the gym and tried it. I didn’t stop,” Lloren Boscarino said. “I play five times a week. I wake up thinking about pickleball. I train thinking about pickleball.”
As leaders in the Argentine Pickleball Association, they share one thought: pickleball is more than a sport. It’s a vehicle for community-building.
Although the sport is starting to grow, it has not been an easy sell. In Buenos Aires, padel fervor is still rampant, and the infrastructure still isn’t entirely there for pickleball.
As such, for the Argentine Pickleball Association, goals this year include training more coaches, rolling out pickleball to more people, and strengthening Argentina’s competitive players. Pickleball still isn’t nearly as profitable as padel or tennis in Argentina, but it’s built with love and passion for the game.
“The important thing is the passion of Argentines,” Gambarte said. “This project comes from the heart. None of us earns money from this.”
Tommarello dedicates herself to sharing the sport with the younger generation, implementing pickleball in secondary schools as a potential for not only fun and building social skills but also social mobility.
“We grow year by year. People are tripling,” Tommarello said. “Without children playing pickleball, the sport will stop. My goal is to build the first school of pickleball here.”
On a weekly basis, Piazzese may travel 100 kilometers to give classes. While the money might not be there, he claims there is something more important involved — the growth of pickleball. “I do it so people can learn, grow, and get excited about the sport,” he said.
For those who haven’t yet tried pickleball and gotten hooked, Piazzese has one piece of advice that attests to the uniqueness of the sport.
“Give pickleball a chance,” Piazzese said. “Try it once. It’s a very inclusive sport. It’s the only sport where the grandfather, the son, the wife, and the grandson can all play together and have fun. That doesn’t happen in other sports.”
The Argentine pickleball team at the 2025 World Cup