'Two Athletes + One Obscure Sport + No Life' = Guinness World Record Attempt

NewPort RicheyPatch.com
Article/pictures by Richard D. Greene

This was the motto printed on the shirts of Justin Lawrence and Jeffery Baker, two New Port Richey Parks and Recreation department employees attempting to set the Guinness World Record for longest game of pickleball.........

.In the last minute of play, the spectators, supporters, and rec workers surrounded the court and cheered for the two. Champagne was popped and the supporters rushed the court and began showering Lawrence and Baker with the bubbly.

Click Here for more pictures and complete article:


Another article by David Rice, a correspondent for the St. Petersburg Times, appeared on June 29th, and can be found on TampaBay.com:
 
 24-hour pickleball game gains Guinness World Record for two Pasco men


Congratulations to both of you!!!!  What a great endeavor!!

Photos and story submitted by:

Bob Dean 

Bob Dean, Ambassador for Ponte Vedra, Fl and his wife Judy have been instrumental in bringing pickleball to their Del Webb Riverwood community.

These pictures were sent to us by Bob and Judy and are of the grand opening of their pickleball courts.

 "The  37,000 square foot Anastasia Club (fitness and amenity center) opened to the residents on Saturday along with our eight pickleball courts.

About  "20 of our 64 club members available for the photos. Everyone enjoyed the new courts. It was definitely an upgrade from playing in our parking lot."

 

Since the opening, our eight courts have been pretty much at full capacity every evening with more new residents coming to learn every night.

 

Everyone here is extremely excited about pickleball and several have already expressed interest in joining the USAPA."

Endurance Athletes attempt Pickleball Guiness Record

Justin Lawrence is 25 years old, a former Minor League Football Player and College Track Athlete.  He is currently an Endurance Athlete training for the half-marathon as a mascot (Guiness Record) and the Tough Mudder Championships in New Jersey.
Jeffrey Baker is 18 years old, 2nd in Junior Masters (Golf-Dunedin,Fl),
Qualifed for Pepsi-Cola Bowling Championships (Bowling-Hudson,Fl).  He has seven years of competitive baseball and recently switched to being and endurance athlete.

These two young men are also Pickleball Players who on  June 25th and 6th starting at 8 PM,  will be attempting a Guiness Record; the longest continues game of Pickleball (min. 24 hours).   They are still in need of  5-8 more qualified/independent individuals to serve as witnesses for the event and tell us the schedule for shifts is pretty open.  They have been approved to use notaries or experts in the field of pickleball or other racquet sports, including professional players, judges, referees or ambasadors.

If there are any USAPA Ambassadors in the area - they would love to have your help!

The record attempt will take place in the  New Port Richey Recreation and Aquatic Center, where pickleball is open to the public. 

Jeff sent us the following additional information:

Any help or advertisment would be appreciated! You can use my name or Jeff's as well. We have to follow all USAPA Rules, and proper equipment. Although it doesn't matter who wins, we will keep playing continuous games by proper rules, for 24 hours. We will do our best to keep score, and record of every game, as long as we have enough volunteers. :)

Any help would be awesome and I truly appreciate the support. I play for fun, and were gonna go over rules before, but it definitely would be cool to have some there making sure or reminding us of all proper rules so guiness honors it.

Were basically just two endurance athletes trying to promote pickleball at our facility, and do something fun and different.

Thanks,
Justin Lawrence
 jrlawrence86@yahoo.com,
 727-488-3433

Florida Ambassador Brings Pickleball to Ponte Vedra

Bob Dean  is our newest Florida Ambassador and he loves to play pickleball.  But when he moved to the community of Riverwood in Ponte Vedra Florida, there was no place to play.............

Before moving to Florida, Bob served as court maintance director ,instructor and on the planning commitee for theTellico Village Pickleball Club in Loudon,TN since back in April 2008.

In December of 2010 he and his wife Judy moved to  Riverwood at Nocatee by Del Webb in Ponte Vedra, Fl.  At that time eight pickleball courts were under construction and Bob  agreed to head up their pickleball program.  Even without any court, he's managed to get the local residents excited about our great great and anxious to get out on their brand new courts!!!!

Bob reports that their  8 new courts open at Riverwood on June 26. Both he and his wife Judy, the only two people who knew how to play, have been very busy teaching  new players.   Back in May he held a pickleball clinic on a temporary court set up in a parking lot, and over 60 residents joined their pickleball club!     Bob applied for and received a grant from USAPA to help him introduce pickleball to his community, and is planning the Grand Opening on June 26th on their brand new courts!!

Good Luck Bob and Judy!!!!  We look forwad to pictures of those new courts and  more news on the growth of pickleball  fun at Riverwood.

Villagers Grateful for Indoor Play............

If you are a resident of The Villages, Fl, or just a visitor - you know that all their courts are outdoor and unlighted.  During the summer month's wouldn't it be nice to get out of the sun and away from the summer storms with a place to play indoors?    The following message was  recently sent to the Pickleball Community................

Be COOL -- BEAT the Heat, Play Pickleball Indoors, in Air Conditioned comfort.


Commencing on Thursday, June 23rd, and every Thursday into the fall, from 11:00 to 3:00 PM, thanx to the generosity of the First Baptist Church of Oxford and the efforts of Paul Poret, there will be 3 Pickleball courts set up in the gymnasium of the First Baptist Church of Oxford. The facility is located and ultra convenient, 5 minutes from the intersection of Hwy 466 and Buena Vista Blvd.

Submitted by Jan Singer
Ambassador, Chester, SC

 

We had six people to participate in pickleball ( South Carolina Senior Sports Classics)  and five of us won medals. Martha Campbell and  I won silver in the ladies doubles. Ronnie Greenwood and Ed Mauney won gold.  Ed Mauney and  a lady from Indian Land won gold in mixed doubles. Martha and Allen Campbell won silver in mixed doubles

 

Jack Sink (Director of Chester City Recreation) and John Roof are discussing painting 2 more pickleball courts.  In the winter we had 35-40 lining up to play for pickleball.

The summer parks program for the city is adding pickleball this summer. Our city director is all for painting two more city tennis courts.  They are located of West End Street at Wylie Park.

We all love pickleball!!

Pickleball Clinic,Play and Pot Luck!

Submitted by Ann Earley

Thanks to Carole and Bill Hess, Lake Arrowhead has been exposed to pickleball and it has taken the community by storm. The group consistently
has been meeting every Sunday night for over a year and now meets every
Sunday and Wednesday evening.

 

With four tennis courts, the group is marking off Pickleball lines with chalk and hopes to someday have their own designated PickleBall courts. In the meantime, they have the leadership of the Hess' and tonightTom Earley conducted a brief clinic and play before a pot luck smorgasbord. The Lake Arrowhead players are invited to join the North Georgia  Pickleball Club every Monday, Wednesday , Friday and Sunday at 9:00 am as well.

Here's is a video of Tom's Clinic..........

Submitted by: Marcia Bingham

Rick did a clinic for us yesterday at Tangle Oaks in Wilmington. We are a residential community of about 100 families.

I became acquainted with pickleball while staying at Sun 'n' Fun in Sarasota FL. Our tennis courts here were being resurfaced so it seemed like a good time to approach the board to include pickleball lines on one of the two courts.


Since I've been back in town,I have been playing downtown in Wilmington twice a week, but really wanted the community to get involved in this great new (to us) sport. Rick volunteered to come down and get us started. We had about 20 folks out; 15 of whom got on the courts and gave it a go. We're already talking about setting up a ladder and have set up two mornings a week for "drop in" play.

CLICK HERE to see all the photos of the clinic.

Pickleball Introduced at Two New Locations in South Carolina....

Submitted by Richard Skovran
Ambassador- Myrtle Beach, SC

Please see attached  photos. The first 2 are at Ocean Lakes Resort and the last one is at Carolina Ridge.

May 18, 2011 was Health Day at Ocean Lakes Resort in Myrtle Beach. Rena Grant and Richard Skovran, Myrtle Beach's newest ambassador along with Richards wife Diane and Rena's son-in-law Neil taped off a section of flooring in the huge Rec Center. The employees lined up for a morning of instruction. The employees took to the game right away. It looks like Ocean Lakes will continue with their plans to have pickleball within their structure. A fun day was had by all.


May 28th was a special day for Richard. He had previously requested permission from the board where he lives, to mark off the tennis courts for pickleball. With the boards blessings, Richard and Rena Grant taped off the courts. Richard planned the first outing for May 29th, 2011,

He opened up the invitation to people within his complex to come and learn the game. He invited fellow pickleball players to come and play also. A BBQ picnic was held at the end of the day at Richards place. A fun day was had by all. It looks like the courts at Carolina Ridge will get a permanent change in the way of Pickleball.