San Diego startup petitions Apple: It’s time for a pickleball emoji

The official pickleball emoji designed by Michael Celedonia subject of a petition sent to Apple Photo Courtesy of TeachMe To Pickleball a fast-growing paddle sport that combines elements of tennis badminton and ping-pong has swept the nation and a strong district has embraced the competition in San Diego But as more people pick up their paddles and hit the courts players want to be represented That s why particular of them created their own pickleball emoji and are pressing Apple to include it in the upcoming iOS Apple offers over sports-related emojis covering everything from popular sports such as basketball to more niche sports like lacrosse According to TeachMe To nearly million Americans played pickleball last year and million tried it at least once yet Apple has not introduced an emoji dedicated to the popular paddle sport Nick O Brien wants to change that The president and chief operating officer of TeachMe To which helps users book private lessons in a variety of programs yes including pickleball has spearheaded a petition to Apple on Change org to approve the company s design for a pickleball emoji Aiming to gather signatures O Brien contends that a dedicated emoji would boost the sport s online visibility and give players a meaningful way to express their love for it It s the fastest growing sport in the U S and even more so it has outsized rise here in San Diego and Southern California as a whole because you can play year-round and you ve got a racket sports group here But all these people tens of millions of people are using a ping pong emoji and tennis makeshift emojis every time they re texting or tweeting about it O Brien explained So it s the pickleball emoji going to change the way people are able to really communicate about the sport Even obscure sports like curling or all those Olympic sports have an emoji So we think it s eventually time that pickleball gets recognized In in contemporary times s digital world emojis are what people rely on the greater part to express themselves online and build human connections behind a screen Emojipeida reports that over of the world s online population uses emojis A pickleball athlete preparing to strike Photo courtesy of TeachMe To O Brien stresses how the absence of a pickleball emoji forces players to fight an uphill battle just to be seen online By having a paddle-ball emoji of their own he says it will instantly validate the sport and ensure a language online that reflects the practices With the help of graphic designer Michael Celedonia TeachMe To has presented Apple with its own design for the emoji approved by the society itself This way players can skip the confusion from combining a pickle and ping pong emoji and use for their own emoji featuring the sport s distinctive square paddle and yellow perforated ball Ultimately O Brien is hoping this small change will bring light to the pickleball society s presence here in San Diego and around the globe As someone who s been playing the sport for five years he says it s about time pickleball is given the digital home that it deserves It s well over half of people who regularly use emojis daily in communication So if they re doing that and they re playing pickleball then they should want there to be a pickleball emoji to express themselves O Brien explained I would ask people if they ve ever picked up a pickleball paddle or been on a pickleball court this year they should help us get that Since launching in mid-April the petition has gathered over signatures with fellow pickleball players sharing their assistance online To join TeachMe To s movement to push for an official pickleball emoji sign their Change org petition here