The new networking: Run clubs, pickleball, and the end of awkward small talk

# How networking changed

There used to be a formula: name tags, business cards, and a room full of strangers making small talk. That model is fading for many early-career professionals. Instead, people are meeting through run clubs, pickleball leagues, group fitness classes and other hobby communities.

Alicia Tyler reports that these activity-based groups make introductions easier because the activity itself provides a distraction and a topic to bond over. The first question at a run club is often about pace, not position or title. That shift lowers the social stakes compared with a conference room where attendees are assumed to be there to advance careers.

# Why play helps professional connections

Kristi Herold, founder and CEO of adult recreational sports company JAM and author of It Pays to Play, has observed this pattern across three decades. JAM began as the Toronto Sport & Social Club in 1996 and has grown into one of the world's largest adult recreational sports league providers.

Herold says activity-based communities create "low-stakes, low-pressure" contexts for meeting people. Playing a game or learning a sport gives people something concrete to talk about, which makes conversation flow without an explicit professional agenda. That makes it easier to build rapport organically.

Shared activities also speed up trust. When people laugh, solve problems together, or rely on teammates, they start to see each other as humans rather than only roles. That human-first connection can carry over into work: junior staff and senior leaders playing on the same team temporarily become teammates, which can reduce hierarchy and cross silos between departments.

# Where opportunities arise

An example in the reporting connects in-person activity with online follow-up. Herold noticed a friend's LinkedIn post about launching a protein powder in U.S. stores. After congratulating him, she suggested sampling through JAM. That casual combination of an online interaction and an in-person community conversation led to a business opportunity.

# Don't drop LinkedIn

# Practical takeaways for readers

• Join an activity that fits your interests and schedule. The shared focus makes initial interactions less awkward.
• Treat play communities as long-game networking: aim to build friendships first rather than transactional contacts.
• Use online tools to follow up or look for ways your in-person community could support a project or product.
• Consider workplace teams and cross-departmental leagues to break down silos and make future collaboration easier.

# Bottom line

Run clubs, pickleball leagues and hobby groups give people a different route to professional connection by prioritizing shared activity over formal introductions. Those connections can produce real career outcomes when combined with follow-up through online channels and sustained personal contact.