Introducing our 2024 Loma Linda University Collegiate Pickleball Team!!!

These players will all go on to various healthcare careers and balance their studies with pickleball, which is no easy feat. Each one of our athletes have been great ambassadors for the game and exemplifying the mission and values of LLU.

COLLEGIATE STAFF

• Head Coach: Ernie Medina, Jr.

• Team Trainer: Ualesi Puni

• Team Manager: Euni Cho

SCHEDULE

• March 15 & 17, 2024, San Diego, CA - Collegiate Nationals (NCPA)

SPONSORS

• Gold Sponsor: Pass PT (Leo Adorador), who has supported us in our development from the beginning.

• Silver Sponsor: Loma Linda Pickleball Club.

• Bronze Sponsors: LLU Drayson Center, AMG Graphics (Tamara Davis-Owens), and Puni Athletics (Ualesi Puni).

On behalf of the team and staff, we thank our sponsors and all those who support us at the Drayson Center, Loma Linda Pickleball Club, and Loma Linda University Health!

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We are a health science university, made up of 8 schools (Nursing, Medicine, Dentistry, Allied Health, Public Health, Pharmacy, Behavioral Health, and Religion), so our team is made up for students from several of these schools, some undergrad, some graduate.

We don't have a big sports program like a D1 or even a D3 school, but we do have an robust intramural program. So for LLUH to sponsor an official team representing the university is very rare. In fact, this is the first time this has happened in LLUH history. In the very beginning, this university used to be the "College of Medical Evangelists" (CME) and way back then, there was a basketball or volleyball team that was sponsored to represent the university in some NCAA tournaments. So this is a huge honor given the type of university that we are.

Pickleball began at LLUH at the Drayson Center, the wellness center of the university, back in 2016. At that time, NO students were playing, only community people. But over the years, the number of students have grown so that now, on any given weeknight, 16 of the 26 pickleball courts are full with mostly students, from 7 of the 8 schools. You can also find faculty and staff playing with their students.

This March, we are hosting our 7th annual Homecoming tournament, made up of teams representing 7 of the 8 schools. On a team, we have students, alumni, faculty/staff all playing together against the other school teams. Last March, we had just over 100 players and this year, we expect even more!

More and more students we see coming to LLUH are already playing pickleball, so we expect to see this trend continue to grow and we're excited to see this growth!