In the middle of the night before beginning their tournament in California, Samford’s Club Pickleball Team had to call an ambulance for their star player. Jake Wilson had woken up violently sick and in pain, and the team decided he needed to go to the hospital, even though no one had a car. He ended up having a stomach infection, and the team stayed up the entire night until he was released from the hospital.
Upon returning to the Airbnb around 5 a.m., the team planned to forfeit their first game, which was scheduled for 8 a.m. that day.
Wilson, however, woke up the team to make them go to the first game.
“He’s like, ‘Rise and shine, guys, it’s pickleball time!” Cox said.
The team made it to their first game, and with Tate and Wilson playing, they won against Masters University. They won several games that day and did well in the tournament against much bigger schools and longer-established programs, even making it far enough to return the next day.
“Everyone was surprised because Jake was still wearing his hospital bracelet, and he didn’t want to cut it off,” Cox said.
Samford’s Club Pickleball Team had started on campus only a few months prior. In January, Wilson began talking to some of his friends who played pickleball and tennis, and they began forming a club team to play in an upcoming tournament in Indianapolis.
The team did well in the tournament, beating Ohio State 5-0, and they made plans to play in another tournament held in San Diego, Calif., March 14-18. The team filled out their roster, including Wilson, Jackson Tate, Caraline Cox and Christianna Hornigold.
This tournament had 28 D1 teams, and despite their harrowing experience the night before their first match, the team performed well, finishing fifth overall, third in singles and fourth in mixed doubles.
The original members split leadership three ways: Hornigold handled finances and flight booking, Cox covered social media and registering for tournaments, and Wilson coached and looked for sponsors.
When the team returned to campus after that tournament, it considered expanding. It held tryouts, formed a GroupMe and created a competitive travel team and a more local recreational team.
“Our first thing really is getting it off the ground, getting more players involved, and finding the best players at Samford,” Tate said.
Anyone interested in joining can join the team GroupMe through the link in the @samford_pickleball bio or contact Cox at (205) 936-9807.
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