It is Sunday morning, early. I plan my routine that follows every week the same. After I write in my journal, get my head cleared, my mind working on all cylinders, I rev my engines, and jump out of bed. It's been a whole week almost that I've been able to play pickleball. To remedy the situation, I can practice my regular 30 minutes at our Community Center on Sunday mornings. No conflicts with any other group. Everybody else (it feels like) is sitting in a church pew at one of the many churches located in town. I'm satisfied with this "alone time" at the Community Center. I have my own key so that I can come and go at will. Sometimes. The Center is mainly a gym and, as a gym, has lots of activities going on during the week. Many of those activities are different groups of pickleball players matched mostly with others of similar skill levels. Not squeezed between those scheduled times but more likely right after them are ...
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Since I first introduced my small community to pickleball in 2017, I've made several reports to our City Council along the way. This past Council Meeting (November 15, 2022) included the most recent report. I made a point to again thank them for their support and notified them of continued growth of the sport in our town. I also added information of a new group in the community that we were inviting to participate. The following is the major part of that report. "...I am thankful for the encouragement and support we have felt from the Roundup City Council since pickleball came to town in August, 2017. Initially, when we started playing pickleball at the City Park tennis courts, we had to purchase and lay down blue tape to make the pickleball court. "However, after we made several reports to the Council about how the growth of the game was increasing over the past several years, the Mayor and Council offered to provide pa...
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Starting a pickleball group in a new location is a challenge, particularly when the community knows little to nothing about pickleball. This is true in a city as it was for Larry and April Seekins in 2002 (Billings). It was still true for me in 2018 when I brought pickleball to a small Montana town of 1700 population -- as a part of Larry's legacy (Roundup). The good thing about the process is it will probably become successful and pickleball will probably become a reality in the new location The real challenge, however, is that it does not happen overnight. The good thing about this challenge is that it requires all the creativity one can muster. The good thing about being creative is that, the more creativity one employs, the greater happiness one can experience. To be fully creative then is to invite feelings of happiness, joy, and usefulness into one's life. Examples of creativity? Larry used several methods to attract Billings YMCA me...
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Pickleball? Yes! is the name of this new blog. It's also the title of my new book on Amazon.com. It describes clearly what impact the sport of pickleball can have on individuals like Larry and April Seekins. They began to seriously learn and play the game 20 years after it was invented in 1965. Benefits of play included the oft repeated advantage of improving one's health. Also important are building relationships with others, and the not-to-be-forgotten pure joy that comes from playing pickleball. Larry and April not only played but also competed in tournaments around the country. Within a short period of time, Larry began to teach. Over 30+ years, he estimates he has taught 3,000 students, most joining in his classes at the Billings YMCA. Six of those players he nurtured early on. Later they became National Champions. I joined in with other novices to learn pickleball from Larry in late 2017 at the age of 75. Along with...