The newest trend has arrived, and it's taking Gen Z by storm. Pickleball is a combination of ping pong, tennis, badminton, and racquetball. It is played on a smaller court in comparison to tennis, and on a shorter net. Instead of a tennis racket, pickleball requires a paddle and wiffle balls. The sport was founded quite recently in Seattle, Washington in 1965 by Joel Pritchard on a slow summer afternoon. With a badminton court and nothing else, he had to improvise with ping pong paddles and wiffle balls. Eventually, they created pickleball, and founded a sport that anyone in their community could play. Here at TIY, we appreciate sports that bring together communities and people from all walks of life. Pickleball can be played by any gender and any age. It is truly inclusive to all.

In recent years, young athletes have been flocking to join the pickleball bandwagon. USA Pickleball recently released a guide to help adults and coaches teach the sport. This has helped schools include pickleball in their curriculum and camps, increasing exposure of the sport to kids across America. In addition, Next Gen Program founded by Ken Herrmann (CEO of the Association of Pickleball Professionals Tour), allows young adults to train towards becoming a professional pickleball athletes. In Utah, the Junior Pickleball Organization also holds tournaments and games for young athletes.

This sport is evolving and spreading like wildfire, and here at TIY we are excited to see it expand across the globe. As it brings together families, communities, and strangers, we are happy to help these athletes have the proper hair tie for their competitions and games. As the sports world evolves, so do we with our special elastic technology that creates a hair tie that will truly hold up your hair. Similar to pickleball, our hair ties are made for everyone (as long as you have hair)!