In The News

Pickleball Sport Grows In Popularity (May 8, 2008 Summerland, BC, www.bclocalnews.com/) Racquet players are enjoying a dilly of a game as Pickleball has bounced onto the scene. This sport, which combines elements of tennis, squash and ping pong, is gaining a following in Summerland and the rest of the South Okanagan.

Arkansas Senior Olympics (May 7, 2008 Hot Springs Village, Arkansas, ) The Arkansas Senior Olympics has contacted Dee Vincent asking the Village PIckleball Club to direct the '08 Olympics in September.   This will be the third year the club has participated.Pickleball is truly becoming a known sport in Hot Springs Village, Arkansas. The club has also welcomed out-of-staters, who wanted to learn about Pickleball, on their visit to the Village.

Silly Name, Serious Sport: Peculiar Pickleball Nets Fans (May 6, 2008 Washington, DC, www.readexpress.com) And the AARP crowd is turning it into a nationwide sensation — which is why mature types, like Shannon and Taylor, dominate the Skyline Sport & Health Club in Falls Church (5115 Leesburg Pike, 703- 820-4100, Sportandhealth.com) every Monday, Wednesday and Friday morning, when the basketball courts are transformed into the D.C. area's pickleball haven.

Teaching Youth In White Rock, BC (May 5, 2008 White Rock, BC, ) Teaching youth is a key component to growing any sport . The May issue of the Lower Mainland pickleball newsletter contains a full treatment on the subject . Suffice to say that in the month of April we, in White Rock BC have trained 450 grades 4,5,6,7 in the White Rock South Surrey area to play PB.

Auburn Hills Seniors To Compete In Pickleball Tournament (May 2, 2008 Auburn Hills, MI, www.suburbanlifestyles.com) Auburn Hills Senior Services will hold its first Recreational Pickleball Tournament for men and women 50 and older on Saturday, June 21.

The First Pickleball Event At The Mt. Olive North Carolina Pickle Festival (Apr 28, 2008 Mt. Olive, NC, usapa.org/south/) The first ever Pickleball Event of the 22nd Annual Mt. Olive Pickle Festival, Mount Olive, North Carolina, took place on Saturday, April 26, 2008. Competitors came from as far as Sebring Florida to take part in this fun event. Although the number of competitors was limited, interest in the game by spectators was high.

Locals Return From Pickleball Tournaments (Apr 24, 2008 Fallbrook, CA, www.thevillagenews.com) “Pickleball has grown tremendously in the last few years and we see how the level of this sport has dramatically increased at the tournaments,” explained Bob. At the recent Pickleball Rodeo at Happy Trails in Surprise, AZ, an event that they organized, 20 states plus Canada were represented.

PICKLEBALL (Apr 17, 2008 Charleston, SC, www.charleston.net) The Post and Courier reporter Diette Courrégé reacts to making a wild shot that went out of bounds during a pickleball game at Trident Academy.

Palm Desert Parks And Recreation Commission Considers Pickleball Courts (Apr 17, 2008 Palm Desert, CA, www.mydesert.com) The game drew almost 300 players during February's Palm Desert International Sports Festival. "This is a sport that's just taking off anywhere that it's warm and they have courts," resident Christopher Thomas said during the commission's meeting. He requested eight pickleball courts.

Venice Seniors Take A Swing At A Game Called Pickleball (Apr 12, 2008 Venice, FL, www.heraldtribune.com) Bruce Whitehead serves during a game of Pickleball at Bypass Park in Venice Tuesday. Sarasota County has repainted two tennis courts at Bypass Park for Pickleball play.

RCSCW Nets Court Decision (Apr 11, 2008 Sun City West, AZ, www.yourwestvalley.com) Pickleball players in Sun City West have reason to celebrate. The Court Utilization Study Committee, after researching court usage data, past governing board decisions and opinions of club members involved, offered a recommendation for the construction of six new courts, which the association’s Properties Committee unanimously accepted earlier this week.

Pickleball Popularity Spiking On Campus (Apr 10, 2008 Luther College, IA, chips.luther.edu) Commonly described as a combination of badminton, tennis and ping-pong, the sport of pickleball is identified by the USA Pickleball Association as one of the fastest-growing sports in America. The growing popularity of pickleball among Luther students and staff suggests that Luther is following the trend.

Competition Draws Out The Best In Villagers As They Play Pickleball (Apr 7, 2008 The Villages, FL, www.thevillagesdailysun.com) Forget about jumping out of an airplane or scaling Mount Everest. What Willa Clair really wanted to do before she dies was compete in the Senior Games. Clair, who lives in the Village of Liberty Park, fell in love with pickleball from the first time she played.

Fierce Competition Expected In Pickleball Matches (Apr 2, 2008 The Villages, FL, www.thevillagesdailysun.com) With 610 players registered to play pickleball, the game is quickly becoming the fastest-growing sport in the Senior Games, said Joe Bouthillette, the sports coordinator for pickleball. "It really shows how much pickleball has grown over the years," Bouthillette said.

Pickleball Gains Popularity On Fountain Hills Courts (Mar 31, 2008 Fountain Hills, AZ, www.azcentral.com/) A tennis-like sport that is sweeping Arizona now has a place in Fountain Hills. Pickleball is the sport of choice at 3 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays and 10 a.m. Saturdays at the town's sports courts, near Golden Eagle and Palisades boulevards.