Stefan Auvergne has found a spot at the centre of North America’s fastest growing sport with the DC Pickleball Team. Raised in Dijon, France, the 33-year-old relocated to Austin, TX, bringing with him a unique set of skills and passions that have translated into early success on the professional pickleball scene.
France’s 2006 National Call of Duty 2 Champion (yes, you read that correctly) was first exposed to pickleball at a local gym. Despite a love for tennis and fitness in general, it was the sport’s social aspect that initially drew Auvergne to the court.
“I actually discovered it when I was doing CrossFit at the CrossFit gym,” said Auvergne. “I had never heard about this sport and that’s where I first encountered it. I wanted to play purely to meet people because it seemed like it was a really social sport or activity and I had just moved to Austin…it quickly became more serious in the following days and weeks.
“I had pretty good hand-eye coordination back in those days and I thought that really applied to pickleball…I had kind of the footwork that translated nicely…also being really into fitness and CrossFit—the whole physical fitness helped my game in pickleball and progressing rapidly.”
Auvergne, who also races BMWs competitively on the side, describes pickleball’s diverse community and unique paths to pickleball as one of the most interesting aspects of the sport.
“I think one thing that comes to mind is the fact that you’re going to play with and against people of all ages, male, female, a variety of backgrounds,” he explained. “It seems very unique to this sport and so cool at the same time. You recognize someone that played ping pong or somebody that played tennis or somebody who hasn’t played either, but came from soccer. There’s so many different backgrounds, which makes it really cool…it’s just such a melting pot of everything.”
After getting drafted in MLP’s Challenger Draft earlier this year, Auvergne is embracing an opportunity to compete against players that originally fuelled his passion to play at the highest level.
“It’s really cool. I first started playing and researching the game on YouTube and seeing all these pros play and then me slowly getting into the pro scene and then being able to play against them…I met a lot of them fairly recently and became good friends with some of them and I remember them kind of back in the day and creeping on their game as I was coming into the sport, so that was kind of cool experience to do that.”
In addition to playing against the world’s top players, Auvergne and his teammates are also playing for a number of top executives, athletes and celebrities that make up their ownership group.
“I feel like we really lucked out with our team owners and group,” added Auvergne. “They’re super nice, just amazing people, super interesting people and you can tell they really want to help grow the sport. They’re really involved, they go to tournaments to watch us play…I think it’s pretty amazing. I’m just super excited to be part of it, obviously, and I want to do as best as I can to make them even happier with their investment.”
On a personal level, Auvergne is ready to make a push for the top.
“I love competing, so No.1 on the rankings is definitely a goal.”
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ABOUT D.C. PICKLEBALL TEAM
D.C. Pickleball Team (DCPT) is the newest professional pickleball team to join Major League Pickleball (MLP). DCPT’s ownership group includes Al Tylis, Sam Porter, Eva Longoria, Justin Verlander, Kate Upton, Rip Hamilton, Shawn Marion, Odell Beckham Jr. and Mesut Ozil.
DCPT will play in the Challenger Level in season one and Premier Level in season two. Season one’s roster includes Sam Querrey – 10-time ATP Tour Titleist and ranked 11th in the world in 2018; Stefan Auvergne – an exciting player from France and former competitive tennis player, competitive gamer and race car driver; Shelby Bates – former D1 Tennis Player at Coastal Carolina University; and Amanda Hendry – former D1 Field Hockey Player at University of North Carolina.
For more information about D.C. Pickleball Team visit www.dcpickleballteam.com and follow on social media:
Twitter – @dcpickleball_tm
Instagram – @dcpickleballteam
Facebook – @dcpickleballteam
TikTok – @d.c.pickleballteam
ABOUT HAUS PICKLEBALL
Haus Pickleball covers the rapidly growing sport of pickleball. Through written articles, interviews, podcasts and more, Haus Pickleball aims to support the growth of the sport in North America and beyond. Stay updated and help us #GrowTheGame by following and subscribing to our social channels.
