Mickey Starling: Greene Publishing, Inc.
Pickleball, the fastest growing sport in the United States, will potentially have its own courts at the Madison Recreational Park. Former Get-Fit Owner, Judi Wyche, approached the Madison County Commissioners at their recent board meeting to ask for courts for the wildly popular game. The board is currently researching prices for building the courts, with the funds coming from the County's recent sale of land adjacent to the park and possibly a Tourist Development Grant. Use of these funds means that no taxpayer money will be needed for this project. The approximate cost for the project is $135,000.
Although the game is new to Madison and has only recently become popular nationally, Pickleball got its start roughly 53 years ago, when a group of bored neighbors in Bainbridge Island, Wash. created the initial game in the backyard of Barney McCallum. The game owes its start to McCallum and his neighbors, the late Congressman Joel Pritchard and the late Bill Bell, who became energized to find a way to keep their kids moving, rather than complaining of having nothing to do. The neighbors used ping pong paddles and an old plastic baseball to get things started on a badminton court, hence Pickleball was born. McCallum soon headed to his workshop to create a more sturdy paddle. Current paddles still resemble the shape of his early creation. Speaking of shapes, nothing in the game resembles a pickle, but Pritchard's wife said the game resembled the crew of a pickle boat, which is a term given to boats finishing last in a race. The comparison probably came about due to the slower pace of the game.
Of course, many rules have been created since the inception of the game but some of the rules were a matter of convenience for the creators. For instance, the net was set at a height of 36 inches only because that was where the waist of McCallum met the net. This made adjusting the net when it began to sag an easy process to measure. The game also features a non-volley zone that was originally created because one of the tall neighbors kept charging the net and spiking the ball. The zone does away with this unfair advantage.
While the kids were enjoying their new game, the adults soon took over, sending the kids back to the drawing board to find entertainment. As the families left their Summer homes and returned to work, McCallum began playing in the street outside of his home in Seattle, Wash. His neighbor was so taken with the new sport that he built a court in his own yard. One of McCallum's friends was a college president in Seattle and he introduced the game there. Pritchard took his love of the game to Congress, where it took little effort to make the game a favorite.
Locally, Pickleball was brought to the attention of Madison City Commissioner Ina Thompson by a friend. Like many, Thompson had never heard of it, so she passed the idea on to North Florida Community College English Instructor Rose Knox, a life-long tennis enthusiast, who researched Pickleball online and was quickly enamored with the sport. Knox brought her new find to her work-out group. Again, the game seems to have the addictive qualities of a good cup of coffee on these ladies and they set about giving Pickleball a home in Madison. Over the last year, Robert Gardner, of Madison, was attempting to give the game a foothold in Madison. Gardner had become an ambassador of the game while playing in Tallahassee. Ambassadors seek to create more venues for the game and promote it in new areas.
That home got off to a shaky start as Gardner approached North Florida Community College about using the gym to get a local program started. For a variety of reasons, that effort failed. Fortunately, the Madison Church of God was happy to accommodate the use of their gym so the community could get their Pickleball game on. It was while working out the details with Madison Church of God that Gardner teamed up with Wyche's group. Besides the two proposed courts at the Madison Recreational Park, two additional courts will be added by Madison Recreational Park Director Tommy Garner in the near future.
Though the game does feature a slower pace, it offers plenty of excitement. "This is a game that is good for all ages and it's a lot of fun," said Gardner. The group now has an active Facebook page, listed as "Madison Florida Pickleball," which has current information about clinics and play times, including plenty of pictures of all the fun the sport provides.
If you would like to learn more about Pickleball or give it a try, consider attending clinics held at the Madison Church of God gym on Mondays and Thursdays at 6 p.m. Madison Church of God is located at 771 NE Colin Kelly Hwy., in Madison.