Archive · 21 Sep 2026
13-Year-Old US Girl Builds Professional Pickleball Career Worldwide
Elsie Hendershot is a 13-year-old from Utah who plays pickleball professionally.
She started playing when she was 10 and quickly began beating older players.
She now travels around the United States and Asia for competitions.
During one trip to Vietnam, she and her father had to return to Japan because they did not have the right visa.
They later obtained an emergency visa and continued to the tournament.
Elsie has a sponsorship deal that helps pay for her travel.
She also changed teams and helped her new team reach the playoffs.
Because of her busy schedule, she attends school online and has limited supervised social media time.
Her father says the family has made many sacrifices for her career.
Elsie Hendershot began playing pickleball at 10 and turned professional after winning junior tournaments.
She and her father were briefly denied entry to Vietnam because they lacked the required visa.
Elsie signed a multiyear Paddletek sponsorship that covers her travel expenses.
She was traded from the St. Louis Shock to the Chicago Slice and helped the team reach the playoffs.
Her career requires extensive travel, online schooling, supervised social media use, and major family sacrifices.
- Who
- Elsie Hendershot, a 13-year-old professional pickleball player from Utah, travels with her father, Kade.
- What
- Elsie is pursuing a professional pickleball career involving international tournaments, sponsorships, and team competition.
- When
- She began playing at 10, received a professional contract offer at 12, and signed a Paddletek deal in August.
- Where
- Her competitions have taken place across the United States and Asia, including Vietnam, Japan, Hanoi, and Orlando.
- Why
- Her family is pursuing the career because of her rapid success and the growing professional pickleball market.
Career opportunity
Family and personal costs
Professional development
Career opportunity
Supporters see Elsie's early success, sponsorship, team opportunities, and international competition as a path to a promising career in a growing sport.
Family and personal costs
The demands of professional competition require extensive travel, online schooling, restricted social media use, and substantial changes to family life.
Growth of youth pickleball
Career opportunity
Pickleball Inc. says investment in the professional game is increasing demand for young players who have grown up playing the sport.
Family and personal costs
Elsie's father says the relentless travel and lifestyle are not what the family originally expected, highlighting the personal cost of pursuing that opportunity.
- Age
- 13
- Hometown
- Mapleton, Utah
- Started playing
- At age 10
- Junior achievements
- Won 16-and-under tournaments and regularly defeated older, highly rated junior players
- Sponsor
- Paddletek, under a multiyear deal that covers travel expenses
- Current team
- Chicago Slice
- Education
- Online charter school accommodating her tournament schedule