{"id":28921,"date":"2021-02-19T07:38:20","date_gmt":"2021-02-19T12:38:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.theburn.com\/?p=28446"},"modified":"2021-02-19T07:38:20","modified_gmt":"2021-02-19T12:38:20","slug":"pickleball-growing-in-popularity-around-the-region","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.theburn.com\/2021\/02\/19\/pickleball-growing-in-popularity-around-the-region\/","title":{"rendered":"Pickleball growing in popularity around the region"},"content":{"rendered":"

(The Burn is pleased to share this article from our partner publication,\u00a0Ashburn Magazine<\/span><\/a><\/strong>.)<\/em><\/p>\n

Primetime for Pickleball
\nBy Jill Devine<\/strong><\/h4>\n

When retired IBM executive Dave Bauer moved from his long-time Fairfax City home to Ashburn\u2019s Ashby Ponds in December 2016, he wanted to stay active and make friends. An invitation from another resident to play pickleball, a sport that combines elements of tennis, ping pong and badminton, delivered more friends, fun and fitness than he ever expected.<\/p>\n

\u201cPickleball helped me meet people with similar interests here,\u201d Bauer said. \u201cIt\u2019s a good [activity] for all ages.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"
Image: Ashby Ponds<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

If you haven\u2019t tried pickleball yet, take a number and get in line. According to the Sports and Fitness Industry Association, pickleball is one of the fastest growing sports in America, with more than 3.3 million players nationwide. The game, played on a badminton-size court using lightweight paddles and plastic hollow balls, was once considered primarily for older adults, but it has recently skyrocketed in popularity with younger players as well.<\/p>\n

\u201cInterest in pickleball has been unprecedented in recent years,\u201d said Justin Maloof. He\u2019s the executive director for USA Pickleball, a national governing body for the sport that is working toward getting pickleball recognized as an Olympic sport. The organization has seen its membership double since 2017 to roughly 40,000 players.<\/p>\n

Pickleball was invented in 1965 by three friends \u2014 Joel Pritchard, Bill Bell and Barney McCallum \u2014 on Bainbridge Island, off the coast of Seattle. While on vacation, the men sawed off some wooden paddles and sent their kids to a badminton court with old wiffle balls to keep them busy.<\/p>\n

When the kids didn\u2019t return because they were too busy playing, the adults went to find them and got caught up in the game as well. The group made up rules as they went along. Not long after, they packaged and marketed the highly addictive game, with one of the founders claiming it was named after Pickles, the family dog that kept running away with the ball.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Image: Ashby Ponds<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

At Ashby Ponds, Bauer \u2014 who used to coach and teach tennis \u2014 made fast friends with fellow residents Lou Rodriguez, a retired school math teacher from New Jersey, and Roy Murphy, a former U.S. Navy officer and aerospace engineer. Now, the trio plays pickleball together every chance they have.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe three of us are like-minded and have really melded,\u201d Rodriguez said.<\/p>\n

The sport is becoming so popular among all age groups that last year, a new facility called Pickleballerz opened in Chantilly, just 20 minutes from Ashburn. The climate-controlled, indoor venue has six regulation-sized courts and offers clinics, special events and programs for kids. The owners say it\u2019s the only facility with indoor dedicated pickleball courts in the Mid-Atlantic.<\/p>\n

\u201cPickleball is the perfect pandemic pastime,\u201d said co-owner Greg Raelson. \u201cPlus, it helps improve hand-eye coordination, gameplay strategy, spatial awareness and cardiovascular health.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Image: Pickleballerz<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Bauer agrees, noting that pickleball has great aerobic benefits and is easier on the joints than tennis. It\u2019s also highly portable, with all the necessary equipment \u2014 including the net \u2014 fitting into a carry bag.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is easy for a pickleball beginner to advance to a playable level fairly quickly,\u201d he added. \u201cThe game delivers enough turns and moves that when you walk away \u2026 you might need a day to recover.\u201d<\/p>\n

Around Ashburn, pickleball aficionados often play at community tennis courts that can be modified for pickleball. Meanwhile, the new 15,000-square-foot Ashburn Senior Center under construction on Marblehead Drive will have dedicated pickleball courts. It\u2019s on track to open this fall.<\/p>\n

To find out how the Ashby Pond pickleballers convinced the facility’s managers to build them a new court, and to see the basic rules of Pickleball and a diagram of a court, click here to head over to Ashburn Magazine website for the rest of the story.<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The easy-to-learn sport has fans of all ages.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":28449,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"cybocfi_hide_featured_image":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1315],"tags":[1413],"aioseo_notices":[],"yoast_head":"\nPickleball growing in popularity around the region<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Pickleball is growing in popularity around Ashburn and the region, including a new Pickleball facility in Chantilly.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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