DOVER — Boosters say it’s a great way to work out and socialize. It’s an active yet easygoing sport for athletes young and old, with a goofy name and a ball to match. And if a tournament held Saturday was any indication of its popularity in this state, the fastest-growing sport in the country is taking Delaware by storm too.

It’s pickleball — and almost 200 people, from teenagers to octogenarians, showed up before 8 a.m. to play the sport on an overcast, sporadically drizzly day at the Courtside Pickleball and Tennis Club in northwestern Dover.

For those not in the know, pickleball plays like a cross between tennis and Ping Pong. Players use a paddle to thwack a wiffle-like ball back and forth over a net on what is essentially a half-sized tennis court.

The smaller court makes it easier for older adults to play while still being plenty active, said Susan Morgan, a volunteer coordinator for the event. The community is “very nice and generous,” she said. And the sport’s growing popularity means you can play it everywhere.

“No matter where you go, you can find pickleball,” she said.

Don Bates, who helped organize the two-day tournament, said when a friend introduced him to pickleball, his reaction to hearing the name was the same as most.

“Of course, everybody says, ‘What?’” he said. “Then [I] saw that a lot of my friends played. And, you know, it’s really, really a great game for all levels and all ages. You’ll see some people that are, I mean, just blasting away, and you’ll see some people that are just getting it over the net.”

The spirit of friendly competition was certainly present at Saturday’s games, which featured men’s and women’s doubles — where teams of two face off against each other. There was certainly plenty of competitive spirit to be found on the courts, complete with victorious paddle bumps between teammates after scoring. But there was also plenty of friendly congratulating after matches and struck-up conversations between players waiting their turn off the court.

Many teammates have met each other through pickleball. For Ginny Dellose and Nancy Snyder, that happened six years ago at one of the beginner’s clinics that Courtside holds each month.

“There’s a great camaraderie of players. “It’s competitive, but yet, it can also be social and fun,” Dellose said.

Her teammate agreed.

“I’m a little bit of an introvert; I have to say, I know like a hundred people from just my pickleball. It’s the best thing not only for physical, but just for social. It is wonderful,” Snyder said.

At least one team Saturday, Ben Torreon and Jeff Howell, has been traveling together to get their pickleball fixes. Torreon found the sport as he was looking for a sport he could play with his wife; Howell was looking for a one he could play during the thick of the pandemic. They met on the court last year.

Both men traveled to Dover from their homes in Maryland for the tournament. They recently placed third at the 2022 Senior Games in Florida. They were off to a good start with their first game Saturday with a win.

Saturday would be the third pickleball tournament Jib Chattrabhuti and Yulia Lin had played together. Their first game of the day was a flurry of footwork and callouts for who should return the ball as it passed over onto their side of the net.

Lin also recommended the game for people who want to make new friends.

It is a “great way to meet people, like when you are a new person coming into a new area. it’s a very safe, it’s very friendly; [a] very welcoming crowd usually,” she said.

Minutes later, Chattrabhuti and Lin finished their first game, a loss. They immediately headed to the net to shake hands with their opponents, then turned around with wide smiles across each of their faces.