Pickleball gains ground in Darlington

Woody Sidbury

By Samantha Lyles, Staff Writer, slyles@newsandpress.net

Looking to take up a new hobby and meet new people and get some exercise all at once? You could hit all three targets with one shot by checking out the fun paddle sport with the silly name: pickleball.

“Pickleball is what you’d get if tennis and ping-pong had a baby,” says Debbie Spinazzola, ambassador for the USA Pickleball Association (USAPA) and avowed pickleball addict.

Played on tennis-style hard courts scaled down to 20 feet by 44 feet, pickleball requires minimal investment for equipment.

The only musts are a paddle and the eponymous pickleballs. Players serve, return and volley across the net using lightweight paddles made of composites like aluminum and graphite and perforated wiffle-like plastic balls. The play can be intense, as with some competitive leagues, or sociable and peppered with chatter, as with the group established by Debbie and her husband.

“I started playing 10 years ago when I was 77. I’m 87 now and still playing, and I still love it,” says Dick “Spinny” Spinazzola.

Dick and Debbie learned to play pickleball while on vacation in Florida. Later, they noticed that the two pickleball courts in Florence weren’t seeing much use, so they took the initiative and started spreading the pickleball gospel. Their love for the game proved infectious and eventually brought over 200 people into the Pee Dee Picklers fold. Florence now has six indoor courts and 10 outdoor courts, and the Spinazzolas are now working to grow the sport in Darlington.

Players come to any sport with their own goals, and pickleball is flexible enough for players to find their own level. For modest fees, one could join a league and play year-round, or simply meet up with friends to enjoy a spirited contest at a local court.

“What’s nice about this sport is that you can constantly improve, and improve quickly,” says Dick. “We had a fellow in our (Florence) club who won a state championship in his first year of playing.”

Pickler Woody Sidbury says he started playing about three months ago to spend more time with his wife, Debi, who got totally hooked on the game when pal Stephanie Benjamin talked her into playing.

Tonya O’Neal admits that when her brother first invited her to play, she scoffed at the idea. “I’ll be really honest, I thought it was an old person’s sport … then one day I was curious and went out to Timrod Park and played, and I really liked it,” she says.

O’Neal says that she, like many picklers, has a tennis background, but she notes that such experience is not necessary to pick up pickleball.

Mary Beth Clanton began playing in earnest when she retired a few months ago, and says the toughest thing to learn was the scoring system. Physically, she says pickleball is less taxing on the joints than tennis and therefore recovery is much easier.

“It’s just a lot of fun, and not as tiring as I thought it would be,” says Clanton.

To learn more about the sport, visit www.usapa.org. If you’d like to see pickleball in action and meet some of the players, visit the Bill Cain Tennis Center (located just behind the City of Darlington Administration Building at 400 Pearl St.) this Sunday evening.

“We’re trying to spread the word and be more visible,” Debbie says. “We play every Sunday night at 6 p.m. here in Darlington, and we’re trying to play more in the evenings when it’s cooler. In the fall and winter, we’ll play more during the day.”

And if Dick and Debbie cajole you into picking up a paddle and trying it out, keep this in mind: “Pickleball is highly addictive and there’s no known cure,” says Debbie.

Debi Sidbury

Tonya O’Neal, Woody Sidbury, Sue Reynolds, Mary Beth Clanton

Mary Beth Clanton

Mary Beth Clanton, Dick Spinazzola, Woody Sidbury, Tonya O’Neal

Photos by Samantha Lyles

Author: Stephan Drew

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