The Pickleball Olympics

I'm up at the lake for the month - escaping the heat of Illinois!  It's great to work up a sweat doing activities versus sweating instantly when you walk out the door.  Earn that sweat!

So who knew I'd find yet another new sport up here in boo-foo?  In last week's newspaper  there was an article about a group of people who meet at the tennis courts in town by the river to play Pickleball.  At first I thought they were kidding.  But no.  There is such a game and it's a lot of fun, great exercise and a wonderful way to socialize up here.  Apparently it's all the rage in Florida and throughout retirement communities.  It's the Florida "snow-birds" here that brought it to town. 

Thank you, snow birds!

If I have this story straight, it was originated in the  1960's by a family who could not find a shuttle cock for badmitton, so they used a wiffle ball.  Not having enough raquets, they added pingpong paddles.  And their trusty dog would retrieve the ball for them.  His name was Pickles.

The game is played on a smaller version of a tennis court, net touching the ground, paddles are bigger than pingpong and the wiffle ball is in play.  Scoring is like pingpong. 

It actually reminded me of  playing tennis with my Wii at home all winter.  (Yes, I'm a Wii nerd, but honestly, it is a good workout!)   Such fun!  I googled it and there is an actual association, nation-wide tournaments, many clubs to join and quite the assortment of "gear" to buy, most easily done on line.

So I live in Naperville - it prides itself on being "Camelot" you know, the perfect place with everything in the world you could want and a lot of stuff you don't want!  What ho!  No Pickleball??  How is this possible???  When I get home I will have to drive 30 minutes to a suburb that is tuned in enough to have an official Pickleball court!  This is truly unbelieveable.  I've been sheltered in Camelot and not at all exposed to what's going on in the world of new sports.  One snow bird told me she lives in Winter Park, Fla. where the tennis courts are empty now and the lines form around the pickleball court!  Now this is big!

After I get home to lobby for courts in Camelot, the next step is to approach the Olympic committee. 

And just so ya know, you don't have to be a senior to play - anyone can!   Anyone out there ever play Pickleball?