\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t There is a new sport growing in Argentina, and no, it\u2019s not the 90s revival of padel \u2014 it\u2019s 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. <\/p>\n
In Argentina, it also embodies the locals\u2019 social spirit.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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\u2019s national pickleball team, had never even heard the word \u201cpickleball.\u201d<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe took out the paddles, and when he took out the balls \u2014 made of plastic and full of holes \u2014 I looked at my two friends and we laughed,\u201d Piazzese told the Herald. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt seemed like a joke.\u201d<\/p>\n
Without an actual court to play on, they improvised at Piazzese\u2019s 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.\u00a0<\/p>\n
La Chimenea club \u201cFrom that day, we didn\u2019t stop,\u201d he said. \u201cWe started playing every day, six or seven hours a day. We played and played and played,\u201d he remembered.<\/p>\n
Three months later, something improbable happened. When professional pickleball player Corinne Carr \u2014 then ranked No. 3 in the world \u2014 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.<\/p>\n
During her stay, Carr returned to the club every day, teaching them the nuances of pickleball \u2014 the soft game, the strategy, the structure \u2014\u00a0and even showing Piazzese how to coach it properly.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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: \u201cLet\u2019s host an international tournament.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHow?\u201d Piazzese asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cDon\u2019t worry. I\u2019ll post it on Instagram.\u201d<\/p>\n
The post went up: International Pickleball Tournament in Argentina. By 5 p.m., a message arrived from the Brazilian Pickleball Association \u2014\u00a0fifteen mixed doubles teams were coming.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were six men,\u201d Piazzese said, laughing. \u201cMixed couples were coming, and we didn\u2019t know what we were going to do.\u201d<\/p>\n
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 \u2014 music, dancing, and the beginnings of something larger than they had imagined.<\/p>\n
Fernando Piazzese, Coach of the Argentine Pickleball Team
\nAn Argentine spirit Eight years later, locations to play today are scattered throughout Buenos Aires, from Recoleta to Nu\u00f1ez, all the way to Avellaneda, where Piazzese\u2019s multi-sport club brings in padel and pickleball players alike. <\/p>\n
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.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In Buenos Aires, tourists have found pickleball through Google searches, Facebook groups, and digital referrals. \u201cThis is the best way to learn Spanish and actually interact with locals beyond superficial conversations,\u201d one young American tourist told the Herald. <\/p>\n
\u201cI think this is the most fun I\u2019ve had playing pickleball.\u201d<\/p>\n
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 \u201cthe most beautiful club in Argentina\u201d by many players.<\/p>\n
Outside of Buenos Aires, clubs have opened in Mar del Plata, C\u00f3rdoba, and Santa Fe, among other cities. Julieta Gambarte, Gonzalo Lloren Boscarino, and Alejo Lloren Boscarino have taken pickleball to Tuc\u00faman and northern Argentina, where the sport is gaining popularity.<\/p>\n
\u201cI saw people playing pickleball in the gym and tried it. I didn\u2019t stop,\u201d Lloren Boscarino said. \u201cI play five times a week. I wake up thinking about pickleball. I train thinking about pickleball.\u201d<\/p>\n
As leaders in the Argentine Pickleball Association, they share one thought: pickleball is more than a sport. It\u2019s a vehicle for community-building.<\/p>\n
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\u2019t entirely there for pickleball. <\/p>\n
As such, for the Argentine Pickleball Association, goals this year include training more coaches, rolling out pickleball to more people, and strengthening Argentina\u2019s competitive players. Pickleball still isn\u2019t nearly as profitable as padel or tennis in Argentina, but it\u2019s built with love and passion for the game.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe important thing is the passion of Argentines,\u201d Gambarte said. \u201cThis project comes from the heart. None of us earns money from this.\u201d<\/p>\n
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.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe grow year by year. People are tripling,\u201d Tommarello said. \u201cWithout children playing pickleball, the sport will stop. My goal is to build the first school of pickleball here.\u201d<\/p>\n
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 \u2014 the growth of pickleball. \u201cI do it so people can learn, grow, and get excited about the sport,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
For those who haven\u2019t yet tried pickleball and gotten hooked, Piazzese has one piece of advice that attests to the uniqueness of the sport.<\/p>\n
\u201cGive pickleball a chance,\u201d Piazzese said. \u201cTry it once. It\u2019s a very inclusive sport. It\u2019s the only sport where the grandfather, the son, the wife, and the grandson can all play together and have fun. That doesn\u2019t happen in other sports.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Argentine pickleball team at the 2025 World Cup \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
There is a new sport growing in Argentina, and no, it\u2019s not the 90s revival of padel \u2014 it\u2019s 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 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":428,"featured_media":42603,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11504,8580,67,110],"tags":[11502,11503,1369,104],"class_list":["post-42602","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-fernando-piazzese","category-pickleball","category-sports","category-what-to-do-in-argentina","tag-fernando-piazzese","tag-pickleball","tag-sports","tag-what-to-do-in-argentina"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42602","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/428"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=42602"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42602\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/42603"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42602"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=42602"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=42602"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}