Pickleball, meh, that's not a sport!

As a squashie for over 40 years and playing at State level, my body was pretty much at the end of its use-by date as Covid hit. Hips no longer worked, it hurts to just walk, shoulder in trouble, and the waistline was marching on. To stay involved in the game I loved, I took up refereeing in 2014, as even at that stage, turning 50, my competitive playing days were numbered. Moving through the ref ranks quickly, I was lucky enough to get to an international ref level and was the Chair of the Squash Australia Referee Panel and eyeing off a what-if idea of the Olympics.

Squashies tend to look down on every other racquet sport, so pickleball was a definite no no! I was invited along a couple of times and politely turned it down (in my head it was a flat no way). You can probably see the predictable path this story is taking…

One thing I really missed in my life was that sporting competitive push. I get it from a work perspective as a founder of an Ed Tech company, but I was really missing the excitement to get on court and challenge yourself, get my body invested, and see if I could come out and defeat whatever it was on that particular day that was pushing back against me. In my case this was usually myself. By the time I finished competitive squash, I would need a week between games to recover, and even after not playing competitively for several years, my hips and body in general were pretty well shot.

Well, eventually I relented and went along to Albert Park (the Pits) beginner pickleball session with a couple of squash mates to give this thing a go. Frankly, it was pretty boring and I didn't see it. But we vowed to give it one more go. I’m so grateful I did. This was a more structured session and I was shown a few of the basics and I had read the rules so had some idea of what was going on. After two hours, I had a bit of a sweat up, body still hurt, but the next day I wanted to try again, and again, and again. Next thing I knew I was buying a paddle and shoes, traveling all over Melbourne to new sessions, and playing 3 or 4 times a week.

What I didn't expect… I could compete again and get those instincts dusted off, which I thought were gone for good. I found a whole new community of people that shared a passion. This did me the world of good! I was getting more exercise than in my final stages of playing squash as I could play and back up again and again. It wasn't anywhere near as hard on my body - in fact, and this part I still have trouble believing, a bit over a year into my pickleball journey, my body feels stronger, with more mobility and NO PAIN, even my hips have loosened up and can now get a really good sweat up over 2 hours!

So convert, tick! A bit obsessed, tick! I have two pickleball besties for mixed and gender doubles who are beautiful human beings to run around and chase a little plastic ball with, and I’m prepping for Regional qualifiers for the Australian Masters Cup and the Minor League series and a bit excited.

This SPORT has given me something back I thought was over.