Pickleball became my game in February 2011 in Sarasota,FL. My husband and I were staying at Sun n Fun Resort while he played in senior tennis tournaments in the area. While I had been an avid tennis player earlier in my life, I had not played in a long time and had lost interest. Pickleball was just the answer; I was immediately addicted. The question was where would I play after Sun n Fun? I had never heard of the game before and had no idea where else it was played. Fortunately, the USAPA has an excellent website which identifies places to play all over the country. I am from Wilmington NC and found two places to play there on a regular basis. In addition, I petitioned the Board of Directors of our Homeowners Association to line one of the two newly resurfaced tennis courts for pickleball.
Rick Laskey, Ambassador from Jacksonville, NC, came down and gave a clinic for residents. Since then, we have lined the other court and held a playday for nonresidents as well as residents; it was a lot of fun and very successful.
I also play with an active group in Cary, NC. We have two sons and three grandsons in the Raleigh area so are there often. Prior to moving to Wilmington in 2005 we had lived in Cary for 35 years; I taught psychology at North Carolina StateUniversity and Duke University and actively competed with my Portuguese WaterDogs in obedience, agility, water trials and conformation.
My goals are to encourage USAPA membership, introduce new players to the game and seek additional venues in the Wilmington area for play. I am also interested in promoting PB in Raleigh – the capital of NC – where there are no courts/programs. They do have a very good rec program so it should be possible. I am also recruiting players for Cary because I lived there so long and have many tennis- playing friends.
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