NORTH BETHESDA, Md. (DC News Now) — On a Saturday afternoon in September, pickleball patrons at Dill Dinkers couldn’t keep their eyes off of court No. 3.
Ten-year-old Aidan Gohn and his father Jasen Gohn always seem to draw an audience when hitting together.
“When I see that I get excited. It does feel good. It’s nice, adults that love pickleball,” Jasen said. “It’s kind of cool to see a four-foot person playing at a pretty good level.”
“We love to watch you play Aidan,” one player turned fan yelled out.
Aidan is a fourth grader at Poolesville elementary school, who happens to also be a sponsored pickleball player that’s beating intermediate and advanced adult pickleball players in tournaments.
“I might want to become a professional pickleball player when I’m 18 or 19,” Aidan told DC News Now.
Jasen is the varsity tennis head coach at Walt Whitman high school. He started bringing Aidan out to pickleball courts in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic, when Aidan was five-years-old.
“June 30, 2020. It was a little bit before his sixth birthday,” Jasen said. “I have videos of him. He just swings and misses. He couldn’t do anything, but he still had that paddle in his hand.”
Aidan has competed in tournaments all over, when he beats adults, him standing on the first place podium is an impressive image.
“The first three years I was only playing with my dad,” Aidan said. “Now we’ve got a lot of other people that I sometimes practice with.”
While he’s having success in the sport, Aidan is still living his life like a normal ten-year-old. In August, Aidan celebrated his birthday with a group of adult pickleball players that he likes to play with. They provided him with a special crown and beads to wear and cupcakes.
He also has to do his homework, but said sometimes he can play pickleball first and that it’s “whatever my mom says.”
“I couldn’t be more proud of him,” Jasen said.
