Clayton Powell's pickleball court at his family home between Bend and Redmond. The court was built a few years ago.

Redmond resident Clayton Powell, 17, is determined to go professional in America’s fastest growing sport — pickleball.

Powell travels across the country playing in pickleball tournaments and just last week he took home second place overall at the Association of Pickleball Players Next Gen tournament in St. Louis, Missouri.

“It felt really great to see all the hard work paying off,” Powell said. “I was really happy with that.”

Powell said he started playing professionally in 2021, but first learned about pickleball from his grandmother in 2018 at Thousand Rivers in Sunriver.

Since he first learned about the sport, his fascination grew. He started playing in the summers with his dad. Now, he practices four to six hours everyday — usually with a session right when Powell wakes up and another one after lunch.

His family even built their own pickleball court in their backyard for Powell to practice on.

On a trip to Mexico and the Tres Palapas Baja Pickleball Resort in 2021, Powell realized he “fell in love with pickleball” and decided he wanted to go professional. It soon became a dream he couldn’t shake.

“What truly makes me love this sport is that the community is so amazing with all the people I’ve met,” Powell said. “I really fell in love with the game and the strategies behind it.”

Specifically, Powell loves the “soft game,” of being directly behind the net at the kitchen, which is a non-volley zone area.

“I think that adds a whole new level and dimension to the sport that tennis doesn’t have,” Powell said.

He tried tennis in high school for a year, but realized it clashed too much with his pickleball game so he didn’t stick with it.

“He’s very dedicated,” said Diane Baumgartner, an instructor at the Premier Pickleball Club. “I mean, he is one of those people that wants to excel and that’s part of being a good player; it’s having the mindset to do it.”

Baumgartner met Powell early on in his pickleball journey and was there when he got “hooked” on the sport, she said. The support of Powell’s parents help cement it.

“Part of the program is if your parents are willing to bring you places (for pickleball),” Baumgartner said. “We have to give a lot of thanks to his parents for giving him those opportunities.”

Powell plays men’s singles, doubles and mixed doubles, though he prefers to play men’s doubles when he can, as “that’s probably the one I’m best at and so I enjoy that a lot,” he said.

His double’s partner and current coach currently live in Portland, where he practices most of the time. While he’s there, he usually stays at his men’s double partner’s house or his aunt’s.

Although Powell misses his family, as they’re all “super close,” when he’s on the road, but said traveling makes the experience worthwhile.

“I just love what I do and (traveling) is what it requires,” Powell said.

So far, Powell has traveled to Kansas, Arizona, Missouri, California, Washington, New York and more.

“New York was a cool experience since it was actually played in the U.S. Open Tennis Center, but they just put pickleball courts on that surface, so I got to see that,” he said. “It was a super cool facility.”

Powell and other pickleballers had one or two days for tourist expeditions.

“I’d love to just be able to travel the world and play pickleball, that’s my dream,” he said.

Powell wants to make pickleball his career, so he’s currently taking high school classes online through Baker Web Academy.

“Online school and all of its flexibility has been instrumental in me pursuing pickleball,” Powell said.

Powell said his body is still sore from the St. Louis tournament and he slept 11 hours on his first night back in town. If Powell wants to be the best, he needs to rest.

“My goal that I set a few years ago is to be the best player in the world,” he said.

Powell said his next pickleball tournament is likely APP in Chicago in mid-August.