Lesa Allen was introduced to the sport of pickleball in 2016 by friends outside of Grove City and became interested in playing regularly right away.
She reached out to her friend Joy Miller and asked if Miller would be willing to learn how to play. Despite Miller's self-admitted lack of interest in playing sports, she told Allen that she was willing to give pickleball a shot.
"(Lesa) took me to some of the places she plays with her other friends," Miller says, "and I was definitely out-talented by all of the people there. She convinced me that I could get better, so we kept trying."
Read more about Grove City's pickleball from our March/April 2021 issue!
Allen and Miller started asking friends to play with them weekly, but after some weeks with little success at recruitment, the pair decided they needed to reach out to more people in the area. In the summer of 2019, Allen suggested they create a Facebook group to find more people who were interested in learning pickleball. From there, interest among community members started growing rapidly.
As of now, Allen says there are a little more than 300 people in the Facebook group and they continue to recruit people who walk by the courts while they play.
"I would say that in the summertime when we're really active, if you counted everyone who played in a month, there would be about 100 different people," Allen says. "Some are there every time and some of them show up two or three times a month."
The people who play pickleball with Allen and Miller's group range from children to grandparents. Allen and Miller say the sport is accessible and enjoyable for all kinds of people – they even have a family of three generations who play together.
"We have young teenagers, their mom and their grandparents," Allen says. "I can't think of very many sports where all three generations can play and be competitive with each other."
Eventually, so many citizens in Grove City were playing pickleball, the city funded the construction of six courts.
"It's been a wonderful thing during the pandemic," Miller says. "Because it's something you can do outdoors safely and talk to people."
Because of the continued popularity of pickleball in Grove City, the city has talked about adding bleachers, lights, a space for those who are waiting to play to stand and potentially more courts for the community's use.
Allen and Miller say that teaching new players is one of their favorite parts of being involved in the group. The community is patient with newcomers, and they encourage anyone who is remotely interested to give it a chance.
"I cannot remember a time when I saw anybody angry about a point or mad about something," Miller says. "It's great to see everyone getting along."
Nora McKeown is an editorial assistant. Feedback welcome at feedback@cityscenemediagroup.com.
