Pickleball takes nation, Montana State Olympics by storm
Pickleball player Bob and Pat Bauerle were gold medal winners in 4.0 mixed doubles division at El Dorado Ranch Pickleball Club tournament in San Felipe, Mexico. (photo courtesy of Bob Bauerle)
PICKLEBALL PLAYER Bob Bauerle and doubles partner Jim, gold medal winners in 4.0 men's doubles division at El Dorado Ranch Pickleball Club tournament in San Felipe, Mexico. (photo courtesy of Bob Bauerle)
Five years ago, Director of the Montana State Senior Olympics Kay Newman noticed a new trend that began to emerge in the world of senior sports.
Puzzled by the popularity of the sport called Pickleball, Newman said the Senior Olympics responded to the popular demand of the sport five years ago and added them to the Senior Olympic Games.
This year Pickleball has the largest amount of registered participants in the games set to take place June 15-17 in Polson, Ronan and Pablo.
“I don’t know why people find it so engaging,” Newman admitted. “I think it’s because it’s a relatively new sport unlike tennis, which has been around forever.”
Newman said she doesn’t know the specific numbers on why the sport of Pickleball has grown quickly, but did offer her hypothesis.
“I think people are so interested because it is easier to do than tennis and people that play it say they don’t have to take a lesson,” Newman said. “In a few years, there will probably be Pickleball lessons. This year at the Senior Olympics, we have more entrants in Pickleball than any other sport.”
Newman still admits she’s “baffled” but has her theories on why the sport has grown in popularity.
“I think it’s a much less strenuous activity,” Newman said. “I wanted to see what it was like and it was small. I don’t know if they have grown but you can just pick up a paddle and play. I think it will eventually be a sport that becomes more technical as time goes on. Initially, it’s so easy to learn how to play. Someone’s friend will say ‘I can play and I am as good an athlete as them and I can do it too.’ It really gives people confidence I think.”
Newman said she felt the sport doesn’t require a lot of initial dexterity and it promotes staying active for seniors that are over 50 years old.
Living an active lifestyle is one of the main mission statements of the Senior Olympics, and Newman said Pickleball is promoting just that.
“They are doing it to stay active and be with their friends,” Newman said. “A friend of a friend will pick it up and it becomes a social thing. It is encouraging people who have not participated in any form of athletics to maybe play. It’s something that they do with their friends, make new friends, stay active or improve their health. It’s important to stay active.”
The Senior Montana Olympics, which changes locations, possibly came to Polson when it was being hosted in Kalispell, according to Newman.
“Our games have come to Kalispell twice before and people involved with the Senior Olympics loved Kalispell,” Newman said. “When I left Kalispell, I got two telephone calls saying ‘we wanted to go back to Kalispell next year.’ We figured the people would like your area just as well.”
The Eagles Nest RV Resort, located at 35800 Eagle Nest Drive, has private Pickleball courts developed for guests only, according to Jo-Netta Fox.
“This summer, I have a group that is coming that has about 16 to 20 people coming from the Arizona area and all over the United States, Canada, Texas, and Arizona,” Fox said. “They spend a long weekend with tournaments. They have a lot of players, ranging from very experienced players to novices. They spend long weekends with us and play tournaments. There are a lot of courts that are pretty much occupied in the morning to the late evenings. It’s a pretty physical sport like playing tennis or Wiffleball.”
Bigfork resident and United States Pickleball Association Ambassador, Tom Draney, said he is working on introducing the game in the region.
“The largest sub-population of RVers go to Arizona and Florida,” Draney said. “They are playing and bringing it back in the summer to their regular homes in Montana and Minnesota or wherever they may be.”
Big Arm resident Bob Bauerle, who has two private courts in his own house, said he felt Pickleball “ doesn’t require much practice.”
“You don’t need to practice tennis for years to have the skill to keep the ball in play,” Bauerle said. “I could take a person as long as they have hand-eye contact ability and within 15 minutes of playing, they are laughing and having fun.”
Bauerle, who is an amateur tennis player, said there is a higher ceiling in Pickleball, and it has peaked if not declined in tennis.
“It can be frustrating to learn tennis if you have never played tennis before,” Bauerle said. “Now I am moving around and have been playing competitively the last three years and moving up levels in Pickleball that I will never achieve in tennis.”