SALT LAKE CITY — Last fall, the Utah Tech University pickleball team won the first-ever “Collegiate World Championship.” Now, the team members have become pickleball ambassadors to China.
The trip's origin story
Earlier this month, six athletes and two coaches from the Utah Tech pickleball team traveled to China as part of the 2026 China-U.S. Friendship Pickleball Event.
Coach Chloe Butterfield said the whole trip started coming together after the team’s win last Fall.
“With that win, and (the) publicity that came with it, one of my students saw the news article and actually has a brother who works in the embassy in Beijing,” she said. “So we got hooked up with an embassy contact who got us in touch with the Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries. And I got connected with them and got this whole thing going.”
Utah Tech University pickleball team. (Photo courtesy: Utah Tech pickleball team)
Connecting through sport and culture
During its 10 days in China, the team got to meet with and play with a bunch of Chinese players.
“Even though we were at different cultures, can’t even speak the same language, we could bond over this sport that’s taken over the U.S., and it’s blowing up like crazy over there in China, and they just love it,” Liam Dussin said.
Comparing international playing styles
Dussin said the Chinese don’t play the same way we do here.
“Over in China and these Asian countries, they play badminton, they play table tennis and those are kind of some of their main sports. So you had a lot of these players coming over from those types of sports. So they had really fast hands; they used a lot of their wrist,” he said. “It was a little bit softer of a game with like the dinking and everything like that. And then as soon as the ball got sped up, it got played fast. It just kept going fast, fast, fast. Versus over here in the states is fast, slow, fast, slow, and the tempo is a lot different and not set.”
Pickleball players in China. (Courtesy: Utah Tech pickleball team)
Communication and player interaction
Benson Parry said many of the Chinese people spoke English, so it was pretty easy to communicate with them. He said they love pickleball and were quick to pick up new things.
“I think [my] favorite overall was probably the Pickleball Friendship event where we got to go play and also just interact with a lot of the Chinese players and people,” he said.
Exploring famous Chinese landmarks
Dylan Ciampini said that in addition to playing pickleball, the team and coaches were able to tour several Chinese landmarks.
“The first day that we got there from the long-haul flight straight to China, we got in (at) about 9:00 a.m., and we went straight to the Forbidden City. I think that entire day we put in 18,000 steps just going through Beijing. We went around town and then had a beautiful dinner that night, which was amazing,” she said. “And then the next day we went to go see the Great Wall of China, and I mean we were completely treated out there. The Great Wall was insane. I think all of my team made memories riding the toboggan down the Great Wall of China. There’s nothing like a metal slide and the Great Wall.”
Utah Tech University pickleball team at the Great Wall of China. (Photo courtesy: Utah Tech pickleball team)
Impressions of Chinese skill levels
Ciampini said she was pretty impressed with the Chinese players.
“Playing with and against the Chinese players was really awesome. Their game styles are still pretty similar. Pickleball is a universal language,” she said. “And something that I noticed playing against the Chinese players is that they do generate a lot of spin. They have great spin and also really great overheads that comes from a lot of ping pong and badminton.”
The players said they made some contacts while in China that they’re hoping to keep up. Right now, there isn’t another event planned, but everyone said if something does get planned, they’ll be thrilled to go again.
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