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 members into Flanagan Gym to learn pickleball.  Mike Nys, previous Program Director for Billings YMCA, described Larry at the gym door saying to passersby, "You look like you would make a good pickleball player."  ("Larry", says Nys, had a desire to make everyone a picklegall player.")  Or Larry would bring family members and/or neighbors to join him in the gym and play pickleball games for others to see/watch/become interested.  Another method he used was to write  small blurbs in the YMCA Program Guide to explain what pickleball was all about.

My methods for attracting potential players followed along similar lines Larry used.  Inviting a friend to learn pickleball out on the City Park tennis court allowed for visibility of the game in our community.  The Bank Manager who watched from her window asked what we were doing out there.  Another eventual participant rode by on her bike, stopped and asked about it.  I also hung notices on grocery store bulletin boards and wrote short stories for our two newspapers.

So the first step is to create visibility of the game.  The second requirement is to be persistent.  In both situations described above, Larry eventually became successful in his pickleball program as did I.  Larry's program has now been active for over 20 years; ours has continued now for five years with no signs of stopping any time soon.

The most important factor in creating the game of pickleball in a new location and in persisting with its growth has to do with the benefits that the game brings.  These are the factors that have been influential in my own life and therefore have the possibility of working in the lives of other players as well:

1.  Pickleball is easy to learn.

2.  Pickleball is fun to play.

3.  Pickleball can improve one's health

4.  Pickleball can build relationships with other people/players.

When all else may not work as well as I think it should, these four benefits never leave my consciousness or awareness.  And it is this experience that maintains my determination to continue with pickleball, no matter what.