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Amanda Stevens

Pickleball group builds friendships on and off the court

Community Over Competition

by

Westerville

As it nears 11 a.m. on a sunny Thursday, more than two dozen cars begin to pull into Metzger Park, right by its six pickleball courts, still bustling with players from the morning’s competitive intermediate session.

While the intermediate players finish up their final matches, the newcomers set their lawn chairs, duffel bags and water bottles just outside the black wire fence surrounding the courts as they prepare for two hours of friendly sport.

For these players, many of whom are retired, the Westerville Community Center’s non-competitive pickleball open play, which meets on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., offers more than just recreation – it provides an opportunity to engage with a community of like-minded individuals.

Though many of the players have been on the court together for years, the group began a new tradition of going out for monthly lunches in December 2025, providing the players with even more opportunities for connection. For these players, pickleball may be the common thread, but it’s the friendships and personal journeys behind the game that keep them coming back each week.

Fitness, friendship and fun    

One of the many pickleball enthusiasts at the Community Center includes Ty Gantzer, who’s been playing for a couple of years following his retirement in 2023 and helped organize the group’s first lunch.

For Gantzer, he says the group has been a good way to meet people in a healthy environment.

“I would recommend (the group) to anybody that’s interested in learning the sport because they’re very forgiving as well. They don’t take it so seriously that they can’t have fun,” he says.

Up until his retirement, Gantzer worked in maintenance for National Church Residences in Hilliard for several years. He still stays connected with the staff and residents through a Monday night Bible study.

He says he likes to focus on activities where he’s engaged with people and advises newly-retired individuals to try new, healthy hobbies.

“I never played pickleball up until just a couple years ago. I tried something new, and I fell in love with it,” Gantzer says.

He says he’s had people tell him he should move up to a higher level because of his skill level, but he says he’s satisfied where he’s at.

“To be honest, I just like the people that I’m playing with and I’m having so much fun playing with them,” he says.

Connecting beyond the court

Seeking to extend the group’s camaraderie, Gantzer and several other players helped coordinate the group’s first lunch on Dec. 18, 2025, with 22 of the players going to Bru Burger Bar on Cleveland Avenue.

“We were like, ‘This is such a fun group. Why don’t we get people together afterwards in different venues?’” Gantzer says.

Using an app called TeamReach, the players stay in touch via text messages and have since had a few more post-pickleball lunches.

Gantzer shares that they try to choose local restaurants. For instance, they went to Las Margaritas in the Market District for Cinco de Mayo and had 29 people in attendance.

“We had three or four tables at that time and had a big turnout. It was a lot of fun,” Gantzer says.

Gantzer says the group is just getting started but is looking forward to future outings and continuing to welcome new members.

“It was just my desire to build a community through this group of individuals coming together to enjoy a sport. And I found out that I’ve made quite a few friends through this sport,” he says.

Meaningful matches

Two other familiar faces on the court include longtime Westerville residents Ruth “Ruthie” and Glen Kubinski, who’ve been married for 30 years and started playing pickleball as a way to stay active following retirement.

Glen, who retired 12 years ago, was the owner of Energy Tech Insulation, Inc. for more than 30 years. He says he had friends suggest pickleball and started playing while Ruthie was still working as an office assistant for the City of Columbus at Public Utilities.

Since her retirement two years ago, the Kubinskis have been playing in the non-competitive open play, enjoying the cardio the sport offers and building rapport with group members, thanks to frequent court rotations giving players a chance to connect.

“We have a really good group of people... We fit really well together. If somebody falls down, we’re all running over there to make sure that individual’s okay, and we’ve just got really good camaraderie,” Ruthie says.

She also notes that there are even a handful of players who come from other communities to play because they enjoy the Community Center. She and Glen say the Center is fantastic for retired individuals and younger individuals too, noting that their grandsons play basketball during open gym sessions.

While the Kubinskis enjoy staying active in many ways, including working out at the Community Center, bowling, boating at Alum Creek and even snow skiing, they say the pickleball group has a special bond.

“A lot of times, say you go to work out, you might say, ‘Hey, how you doing?’ But you’re not making actual good friends,” Glen says.

A court of companionship

The Kubinskis say they’ve seen players stay with the beginner group simply for the connection.

“A lot of these people stay non-competitive just for the camaraderie and the people, which is nice. They go up to the intermediate and then, next thing, they come back down because they like the people,” Glen says.

He says he enjoys being able to smile across the court at his fellow players.

“We’re not there to be crushed or to be beaten. We’re there to have fun, play as well as we can. Win or lose, we’re laughing and smiling and having a good time,” he says.

Meanwhile, Ruthie describes the group as jovial.

“If you hit the ball wrong or if you miss it, we laugh and we make jokes about it,” she says.

Despite the Kubinskis recently being sidelined due to injuries, she says the group still tries to include everyone.

“They were real big about even inviting the injured people to the lunches,” Ruthie says. “They made sure we knew where they were going and when.”

While she and Glen miss the other players, she says they are looking forward to returning to the court and continuing to grow their friendships.

Amanda Stevens is a contributing writer at CityScene Media Group. Feedback welcome at astevens@cityscenemediagroup.com.