As an athlete growing up in Orange County, California, Mary Brascia already had years of experience with a racket in her hand when a new small-court game — known playfully as “pickleball” — took the world by storm. She was playing tennis for Biola University in 2020 when she tried it for the first time.

“My parents set up a pickleball net in front of our house and said, ‘Maybe it’s a way to make friends?’” she recalled. “I started hitting the pickleball a little bit, and honestly, after day two or three, I was hooked.”

Today, the 25-year-old Snyder School of Cinema & Media Arts alumna is one of the top pickleball athletes in the world. She trains nearly every day at facilities near her family’s home in Mission Viejo, competes in the PPA (Professional Pickleball Association) Tour, and has ranked as high as No. 3 in the world in women’s singles.

She even has a signature move named after her — the “Mary Go Round,” a behind-the-head shot that seems impractical, if not impossible, but that she has used effectively several times in competition. (Several videos of the Mary Go Round are available on YouTube.)

Having studied film at Biola, Brascia is comfortable both in front of and behind the lens. Off the court, she has become a pickleball evangelist — but she says her first allegiance is to the God who has given her such rich athletic gifts.

“Faith is the most important part of my life,” she said. “My relationship with God is so important to me. It’s a great feeling when you’re playing out there and you know that he’s with you. I like to say God is giving me the courage and the strength to get through these matches.”

And so it is that Brascia considers pickleball, and her ability to play it, as blessings from the Lord: “I cannot say enough about how awesome pickleball really is. It’s my passion now. It changed my life, and it has introduced me to so many people.”

With its smooth paddles, small courts and a telltale snick every time the ball is struck, pickleball has proven irresistible to millions of Americans. It was the fastest-growing sport in the U.S. for four years in a row, from 2021 to 2024, and today there are more than 20 million people who play — just six years since the first professional tour was organized.

“When you said ‘I play pickleball’ in 2020, some people knew what it was, but a lot of people were like, ‘What is that?’” Brascia said. “But today in the U.S., I think everyone knows what it is.”

Pickleball incorporates elements of tennis, ping pong and badminton. At the highest competitive levels, it is faster-paced than tennis, demanding less running but also split-second reaction times. It can be played by single players or teams of doubles.

And that is where Brascia’s story has possibly gained the most attention within the pickleball community. She competes regularly with her younger sister, 22-year-old Maggie Brascia — and the duo of sisters is very good, even as they navigate the complexities of competing professionally as sisters.

“We have our moments — and we have different personalities: I’m more extroverted and she’s more introverted,” Brascia said. “But when you get those big wins, it’s so special, because who else would you want to share that with?”

Southern California is one of the global centers of this fast-growing game — and Brascia’s family is right in the center of the region’s growing pickleball culture. Her father manages the Los Cab Sports Club in Fountain Valley — a facility that opened in 2023 and currently has 51 courts.

“It’s nice here because we can play year-round,” she said. “I would say California, Florida, Texas and Utah are some of the biggest hotbeds of the sport.”

The timing of Brascia’s ascent in the sport of pickleball overlapped with her final seasons as a tennis player at Biola. She said simultaneously training in two sports with such similar and yet distinct movements and rules was never a problem for her.

On the contrary, Brascia believes tennis prepared her for the success she’s currently enjoying in pickleball: “Someone said, ‘Pickleball is easy to learn and hard to master,’ and compared to tennis, pickleball is much easier to pick up,” she said. “Anyone can play, whether or not you’re highly athletic.”

But Brascia is highly athletic: As a child, her interests ranged from softball to soccer to swimming; in high school she picked up golf and tennis. She played NCAA Division I college tennis at the University of Dayton in Ohio before transferring to Biola.

“When I was playing tennis and pickleball at the same time, there was never an issue of losing one skill for the other — I was able to balance them,” Brascia said. “I think I might be better at pickleball than tennis because pickleball has some different elements that suit my skill set and my strengths.”

Her record in three years as a professional pickleball player validates her instincts: Brascia won the gold medal title at the April 2024 PPA Red Rock Open in St. George, Utah. She also made the national women’s double finals in 2023 with Maggie in Dallas, Texas, where the duo won silver.

Athletes today are often expected to work on their personal brand in between matches, and that’s where Brascia said her college experience is working for her. She graduated in 2022 — the same year she went pro in pickleball — with a degree in cinema and media arts. She is currently working on her YouTube channel and engages with her growing fan base on Instagram (@marybrascia.pickleball) and through the MaryGoRound Podcast.

“I love making content and I think social media can be used for good,” she said. “I’m very blessed to be able to say that this is my full-time job — I get to play pickleball and travel around the country. It’s awesome — I never would have thought this is what I’d be doing.”

Living just half an hour away, Brascia enjoys staying connected to her alma mater. She recently brushed up on her tennis to play an exhibition match at the Athletics Alumni Day in February 2025.

“I’m still waiting for the Biola club pickleball team to exist,” she said. “Obviously, I would come back for that. I’ve been talking to Coach Goodman about doing a pickleball event at Biola. I just want to put that out there.”