As we approach the 10th anniversary of the Timber Pines Pickleball Club, I thought I would share some Club history with you.
In early 2010, I was enjoying my first winter here in Timber Pines. I had spent the first couple of months playing a lot of golf and wondering why there was no pickleball here; it was such a popular and rapidly growing sport with seniors everywhere. I had started playing pickleball up north in Michigan shortly after retiring in 2008 and was really missing it.
I met with Patti Yost to discuss the possibility of starting a pickleball club here in Timber Pines. During our conversation, Patti told me that another person in TP was also interested in starting pickleball here. She referred me to that person, Bryon Evans, an 84 year-old former school superintendent from Saratoga Springs, New York.
Byron was in the process of setting up a pickleball demonstration, when we met. He had recruited two players from The Villages to come to TP to show how the game was played. I joined Bryon on the Country Club tennis courts that day in early March, 2010 along with a few dozen interested people. At that time, to the best of my knowledge, Byron and I were the only people in TP who knew how to play pickleball.
Based on that initial demo interest, Byron and I talked with the then Tennis Club president, Alan Sinder, and got his support for sharing the Lodge courts. Then Patti helped us out by blocking off 2 hours of afternoon playing time 3 days per week on the Lodge courts and providing us with some starter paddles and balls. With that, we began teaching people how to play.
Soon thereafter, Byron and I took the next step to formally establish the Timber Pines Pickleball Club. We drafted the original By-Laws, using the Tennis Club By-Laws as a template, and held the first club meeting (the organizational meeting) on March 30, 2010. There were several dozen people in attendance at the meeting on the Lodge porch that day. During the meeting the By-Laws were approved and officers were elected. The first officers were President - Lynn Thompson, Vice President - Rob DelVecchio, Secretary - Linda Whitcomb, and Treasurer - Jackie McDermott. Sixty people signed up as the first members of the club that day.
It’s hard to believe, but during the first several months of club play, we had no portable nets and no lined courts. Every session we played we had to temporarily convert the two Lodge tennis courts into two pickleball courts by lining the courts for pickleball with masking tape and pulling the tennis center net strap down to the required 34”. We made little black marks on the tennis courts with a marking pen to guide us in putting down the tape each time. It didn’t take long for us to get quite efficient at taping the courts. After each session, we were required to remove the tape and put the net strap back to the normal position. Ugh!
The Club lobbied management hard during the next several months for permanent court lines. Reluctantly, against the wishes of tennis players, management gave us a partial solution. They painted pale-blue 1” diameter circles about 6” apart to mark the sidelines. Unfortunately, we had to continue putting down masking tape for the kitchen and base lines. Later that year, we finally got complete striping of both tennis courts, but in an almost invisible pale color. We had to take what we could get back then.
Also, during that first year, we lobbied management to convert the Lodge courts to 3 dedicated pickleball courts. At that time, the Country Club courts were still hard courts, so we felt it was a reasonable and equitable proposal. Unfortunately and obviously, management didn’t agree and we’ve been stuck with shared courts for 10 years.
Since that first year, a lot has changed. Club membership and player skill levels have increased dramatically and new dedicated courts are in the works. Byron Evans, who passed away at age 90 in 2016, would be happy to see how the Club has progressed. Likewise, I’m glad I got involved in laying the foundation for pickleball in Timber Pines. It’s a great addition to our community. Happy Anniversary TPPC!