National Mall to host first congressional pickleball match

Eleven pickleball courts popped up in the middle of the National Mall this week. For Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, it’s game on.

Capito is an honorary co-chair of the first-ever Congressional Pickleball Match and was charged with recruiting other lawmakers to compete. The West Virginia Republican helped start a bipartisan Senate pickleball caucus a couple of years ago and sees the sport as a way to bounce around ideas.

“I’ve played tennis my entire life, which is how I myself got into pickleball,” she said. “I find it’s an easy way to network or work across the aisle.”

Congressional Sports for Charity, the organization that puts on the Congressional Baseball Game, partnered with the Trust for the National Mall to set up Thursday’s match. The event is part of a larger pickleball weekend,