2008-11-26T14:13:00.001-08:00

This page contains the profiles of all the ambassadors of the Atlantic South Region. Meet your ambassador by clicking on their profile.

Jack Beck, Ambassador, USAPA, Sarasota County, FL.

Jack Beck is the Sarasota County, FL, Ambassador for the USAPA. His mission: "grow pickleball". Pickleball is catching on in Sarasota and Venice in a big way thanks to Beck.

Jack says it all started in January, 2008. With a great group of experienced players like John Haler, Wayne and Betty Tucker, Ron Graf, Jim Whyatt, Russ Cuccia and many others, they gave demonstrations and instructed players on Mondays. With publicity they received from the local Venice paper, they worked with over 180 individuals, sold 90 plus paddles and dozens of balls. Some people were already experienced players and came with paddles in hand looking for someone to play with.
Meet Jack Beck Sarasota County, FL.

Mike and Lorretta Beckner, Joint Ambassadors
Aiken, South Carolina

"Although Mike was born in East Tennessee and Loretta in Kansas, Mike's 25 year career in the Foreign Service afforded them the opportunity to live in Brazil, Laos, Spain, Venezuela, Mexico and South Africa. They have two sons, Michael, who lives and works in Arusha, Tanzania in the Wildlife Conservation component of a safari company, and Brett, who is living in Arlington, VA, but planning to start a Peace Corps assignment in South America in January. Mike and Loretta are avid sports fans and Loretta played tennis for many years. It was only a year and a half ago that they first learned of pickleball, at community centers in Arlington and Vienna, VA, and after giving it a try, they were hooked! Since relocating to Aiken, SC this spring, they learned that no one in the community knows about their now favorite sport. They are committed to introducing pickleball to the Aiken community and are in the early stages of contacting park, school and church authorities to identify possible locations for pickleball courts. Hopefully, through media exposure, they will be able to generate the interest necessary to support their efforts at introducing pickleball to Aiken."

Robert
and Mary Beth Bellomo, Joint Ambassadors, Sebring, Florida

"Mary Beth and I retired from Michigan in 2000 and wintered in The Villages for four years. we got involved in a Pickleball league and was hooked on the game. We were avid tennis players and still are but Pickleball has taken over our lives.

Being from Canadian Lakes Michigan, not many people knew much about pickleball until we introduced it to the tennis and ping pong players. We started with 12 players and set up courts on our street. It has ground to over 100 in one year and the community build us four outdoor courts. In the winter we play in the church gym.

We now spend our winters in Sebring FL at Sun N Lake. We only found two courts that were Incorporated into the tennis courts. By word of mouth we found six players who wanted to get a group going. In four months, we have grown to 30 players and got the attention of the board and they sent out a camera crew to video tape our playing. We are promised new courts as funding becomes available."

We look forward to hearing more about the growth of pickleball and all their fun events . Welcome Bob and Mary Beth.

Add caption

Marcia Bingham

Ambassador,

Wilmington, NC

"Pickleball became my game in February 2011 in Sarasota,FL. My husband and I were staying at Sun n Fun Resort while he played in senior tennis tournaments in the area. While I had been an avid tennis player earlier in my life, I had not played in a long time and had lost interest. Pickleball was just the answer; I was immediately addicted. The question was where would I play after Sun n Fun? I had never heard of the game before and had no idea where else it was played.

Fortunately, the USAPA has an excellent website which identifies places to play all over the country. I am from Wilmington NC and found two places to play there on a regular basis. In addition, I petitioned the Board of Directors of our Homeowners Association to line one of the two newly resurfaced tennis courts for pickleball.

Rick Laskey, Ambassador from Jacksonville, NC, came down and gave a clinic for residents. Since then, we have lined the other court and held a playday for nonresidents as well as residents; it was a lot of fun and very successful.

I also play with an active group in Cary, NC. We have two sons and three grandsons in the Raleigh area so are there often. Prior to moving to Wilmington in 2005 we had lived in Cary for 35 years; I taught psychology at North Carolina StateUniversity and Duke University and actively competed with my Portuguese WaterDogs in obedience, agility, water trials and conformation.

My goals are to encourage USAPA membership, introduce new players to the game and seek additional venues in the Wilmington area for play. I am also interested in promoting PB in Raleigh – the capital of NC – where there are no courts/programs. They do have a very good rec program so it should be possible. I am also recruiting players for Cary because I lived there so long and have many tennis- playing friends.

Russ Cuccia, Ambassador, USAPA, Venice, Fl

Russ was born in White Plains, New York. It was 42 years ago at the age of 12 that he moved to Venice Florida, where he still resides today. It was December of 2007 when Russ’s wife read an article in the local newspaper about Pickleball being introduced at a local park. He and his wife (who I am told is an excellent dessert chef!) attended one of the very first pickleball demonstrations at Foxworthy Park in Venice, hosted by fellow Ambassador, Jack Beck. Both he and his wife were hooked on the game, instantly bought their paddles and have been playing ever since.
Meet Russ Cuccia, Venice, Florida

Rich and Donna Donald, Joint Ambassadors, New Tampa FL.

Rich and I reside in MeadowPointe II in Wesley Chapel, Florida and work as a Team as Joint Ambassadors for the New Tampa area.
Like most people in Florida, we are from somewhere else. We were both born in upstate New York and relocated with our jobs to Florida in 1994 and have made this sunny State our home.
Actually, we should probably say that we have made this our “home base”.

In August of 2008, Donna was appointed as the Atlantic South's Regional Ambassador, replacing Richard "Greenie" Greenfield.

Meet the Donalds Donna and Rich Donald, Joint Ambassadors, New Tampa, FL

Ambassadors from
Canton, Ga.

Dr. Tom and Ann Earley....
.....sporting their Silver Medals from the 2009 Masters Mixed Doubles at Palm Creek

Originally from Urbana, Illinois, Tom is a retired Orthopedic Surgeon for Small Animals. He owned two surgical clinics in the Atlanta area - Greater Atlanta Veterinary Referral Surgical Practice in Roswell and Marietta. He has been a veterinary surgeon and also taught at the University of Georgia Veterinary School in Athens, Georgia. He retired 7+ years ago but still maintains a position as the President of Foalert, Inc. and travels to horse shows and equine veterinary conferences on occasion.

Born on a ranch in North Texas, Ann is a retired harpsichordist after playing with the Munich Chamber Orchestra, Smithsonian Chamber Orchestra, and as a CAMI soloist with various chamber orchestras across the USA. She also taught private piano lessons for over 25 years. After a hand problem, she completed a Mechanical Engineering degree from Georgia Tech and worked five years for Qualtest, Inc. as a testing services engineer. She retired in 2003 to travel with her husband, Tom.

The Earleys have no children, but had horses until 2007. They have two chocolate standard poodles, Freddie (12) and Bocce (3), and 13 heritage turkeys (Narragansett's, Standard Bronze, and Bourbon Reds). They live on a 15 acre horse farm in North Georgia/Cherokee County and have their own vegetable garden. Ann teaches an Adult Music Appreciation class for her friends/neighbors.

When not playing pickleball, they enjoy Bocce with their neighbors. Both are avid baseball fans.

Tom and Ann bought the balls, paddles, nets, posts and everything else they needed to convert local tennis courts to four lighted pickleball courts, which is now the home of the North Georgia Pickleball Club. Pickleball , Pickleball Socials, and Round Robin Tournaments are an everyday event.

Here is a link to the story we did about Tom and Ann and their North Georgia Club.

Read More About the Earley's and N. Georgia Pickleball

MEET DICK FRESHLEY
USAPA AMBASSADOR, PALM BEACH COUNTY (PBC),FL

Dick is no stranger to pickleball. He and his wife Verna moved to Florida from the state of Washing about seven years ago. Both of them worked and retired from the Boeing Company. In fact, Dick introduced the Boeing employees to the game of pickleball, started a Pickleball League at Boening and he along with several other players quite often played pickleball in the parking lot during their lunch hour. A pickleball veteran, Dick participated in some early tournaments in Seattle, WA., back around 1970 and even played with Barney McCallum and Joel Pritchard, originators of this great game.

"I promote Pickleball whenever I can. I was very active in helping to rewrite the rules a while back" In Palm Bech County, Fl, summer is the off season for pickleball; so many of the snow birds have gone north but he hopes to get the interst started again this Fall. He and Verna do a lot of volunteer work in the Coutny, which is another place he hopes to be able to generate some interest. His home community is listed in Place to Play, so in the winter he gets several calls from people looking for a place to play. Maybe some of those northern snowbirds will team up with Dickl this winter and get some of the local parks and recreation centers on board..

Palm Beach County has more than 90 tennis courts and if you add those in the gated communities there are probably more than 500 courts seldom used and ready for pickleball.
Dick just recently met with the Palm Beach representatives, who provided him with some new contacts to approach to introduce pickleball to Palm Beach County.

Good Luck in Palm Beach County and welcome to the Atlantic South Ambassador Family. This Atlantic South USAPA Blog would still be a "good idea" for most of us it were not for Wayne. Yes, he's the original 'creator' of this great site.

Meet Tom Gardner -
USAPA Ambassador
The Villages, Florida

"My wife Janet and I moved to the Villages on a part time basis in August, 2004 and made it permanent in December, 2007. We are both native Illinoisans and lived there our entire life until moving here. We have three children and 3 1/2 grandchildren.

I spent my professional career of 35 years at State Farm Insurance working in the investment dept. My wife was a homemaker(she claims this as the priority) but also had her own interior design business.

I have been active in sports all my life including baseball and basketball on the varsity level as an undergraduate at the Univ of Wisconsin. When my children were growing and involved in sports I was involved coaching various youth teams and also was one of four gentleman involved in the creation of the PONY baseball program in Bloomington, Il. This involved creating leagues for youth from the age of 5 to 18 and at the time I left included nearly 1000 kids.

With our background, it was important that we find an active community when we retired. The Villages fit the bill and it was here that we were introduced to pickleball. I have been playing it for nearly 5 years. It is on the courts where we have established many friendships. It is a great sport and one that we know can be enjoyed at many different levels "

Rena Grant
USAPA Ambassador, Myrtle Beach, SC

Rena Grant was born in Tabor City, on November 16, 1923. Yes, as your head figures it out, Rena turned 86 this year. If you were to follow her around for a week, you would never believe that were true. So many people say she is an inspiration, but that was also true when she was 65, 45, 25, etc. and that is because of all that she does to help people in so many ways.

Rena was raised on a farm, one of 7 girls who helped her Daddy get all the work done. Life was hard, but she never complained and I for one, believe it has a lot to do with who she is today. Rena moved to Pennsylvania to work in a defense plant during World War II. It is there that she met her beloved husband, Richard. They made their home there and had 2 children, Gary and Linda. Rena taught Physical Education for 25 years and proudly says, she was a “self-taught” Phys. Ed. Teacher. She also coached about every sport they had in the schools.

After retiring, Rena started a volleyball program for seniors and it grew to 8 teams. She also got the seniors involved in track and field; throwing discus and shot put; playing softball and basketball. They entered the Senior National Competitions for many years to follow. They had some wins and some losses, but always fun and lasting friendships.

Rena’s dear husband died in 1993 with cancer and she moved to Myrtle Beach, SC in 1996 along with her daughter Linda and family. That year Rena started to work part time for Plantation Resort Health and Swim Club. After 16 years, she is still working there, 2 days per week, 7AM to 3PM. She also is a substitute for some of the classes there. She also taught line dancing there for several years.

When she first came to Myrtle Beach, Rena started a volleyball program with a few seniors and that has grown and is still going strong. Rena also runs a tennis program for seniors from January through May. The program brings in 20 to 35 locals and “snowbirds” who absolutely love the program, the exercise and the friendships formed.

After trying to get Pickleball going for the past 10 years, she finally got it started and this is one of the best games for seniors. Pickleball is played 3 days per week at Crabtree Gym with great attendance and all the seniors love it. I know it makes Rena extremely happy to watch the people play and having so much fun! Did I say watch? On no, Rena plays everything too. She plays 2 days Pickleball, 2 days tennis and 2 days volleyball.

Rena had a bout with Colon Cancer in 2008 but fortunately, it had not spread. She had surgery to remove it, but she was ecstatic when she didn’t have to have radiation or chemotherapy. Rena never stops counting her blessings. Rena is amazing to do the things she does, and so many say she is an inspiration. That is awesome since her goal when she came south was to get seniors up off the couch!

Former Regional Ambassador for the Atlantic South Region - Dick "Greenie" Greenfield

By Dick Manasseri and Donna Donald

Richard "Geenie" Greenfield, a native of Royal Oak, Michigan was recently appointed as the USAPA Regional Ambassador for the Atlantic South Region, which includes Florida, Georgia, Alabama, North Carolina and South Carolina. For the past several years he & his wife Kathy, and his favorite caninie companion, Molly, an 11 year old Gordon Setter, have resided at The Villages FL where he is a Pickleball instructor with a great passion for our game.

"Greenie', as he is known to his friends, graduated from Central Michigan University and received an MBA from NYU. He served in Vietnam as a Lt. in the US Army. His business career includes achievements in several areas including hospitaility, real estate, and manufacturing.

During his travels, he continued to pursue his health and fitness goals which included marathons and triathlons. Above all, Greenie is a great family man and his extended family includes all the Pickeball players he can create. He loves to teach the game to friends of all ages.

Greenie and Kathy, along with their daughter Corey have raised over $100,000 for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society with their tireless efforts to create and sustain the Craig Greenfield Triathlon and Duathlon event which is held every August in Clarkston, Michigan in honor of Greenie's son, Craig. Thousands of athletes enjoy this wonderful event every year and they hear the story of Craig's life, a life that was too short, but long enough to remind us all of the precious gift we each have.

Greenie is using his energies these days as an active leader in a Region where Pickleball is truly THE sport of choice for many athletes, both young and older. Says Greenie, "I love good pickleball and spread it wherever, whenever and however I can.......I am attempting to break the Worlds Guiness Record of Assembly (12,500) for the most pickleball players in one gated Retirement Community."

Meet Jane Harvey,
USAPA Ambassador-Indian Land, SC I am an independent real estate broker and former teacher from Webster, NY. I discovered pickleball two years ago when my husband, Fred, and I (UMass '70), went to Sun City Carolina Lakes to escape the winter in Upstate NY. At that time, there were just a handful of people playing, using a portable net in a parking lot, trying to chase down balls before they ended up in the gutter.

The Sun City Club grew quickly by offering “Pickleball 101,” an introduction to the game. I recognized a need to provide more support for beginners and jointly developed, with fellow USAPA member Carl Thiel, a 4-session clinic to build basic skills. There are now over 400 registered players in SCCL, and they are looking forward to having a total of 6 dedicated courts in the near future. And, I rediscovered a love for teaching.

Back in NY in the summers, with no place to play, Fred developed a walk-behind chalk line applicator, so we could use local public tennis courts. In less than two years, many new places to play have sprung up. We network with over 125 players in the area, thanks in part to the USAPA “Find a Place to Play” feature. In September, Rochester hosted the National Senior Games where pickleball was featured on NPR.

This fall, along with several other volunteers, I taught Pickleball 101 at the local parks and recreation center, which has 3 new nets thanks to a grant from the USAPA. Best of all, there is now a place to play inside all winter. We were also given permission to paint official pickleball lines on two outside courts—the first “official” pickleball courts in our town.

Fred and I never dreamed we’d be approaching retirement with a brand new passion—pickleball! We love the exercise, sportsmanship, and unique social aspects of the game. Having the title, “Ambassador,” allows me to represent the USAPA and share my enthusiasm with even more folks. I hope to work with local school districts and recreation programs in the future to introduce the sport to more young people.

Meet Jim Hisman USAPA Ambassador, Charleston, SC.
Jim is originally from upstate NY, born in the Catskill Mountains, and worked in the I.T. field in Binghamton, NY for 37 years. When he retired, he relocated to Summerville, SC in 2007 and moved to Del Webb Charleston at Cane Bay in 2008. In his earler years, Jim was an avid golfer and softball player. Now he plays pickleball.

The Del Webb community where he currently lives, is a brand new community just northeast of Charleston and has just over two hundred homes already sold" the plan is for over 1,000. Already they have recruited 40 members for their pickleball club.

Jim tells us, "Del Webb had two pickleball courts just newly completed and nobody knew anything about the game, so a few of us organized a Pickleball Club at the start of this year and it has been growing ever since." The club is all ready looking into the possibility of more courts as we will need them as our community grows.

The club has been concentrating on learning the game and the rules and they really love the game. Jm says "We have started with two competitive divisions and two novice divisions in the doubles ladder leagues and we are just getting ready to launch our challenge ladder leagues in Men's and Women's Singles, Men's and Women's Doubles, and Mixed Doubles."

Sounds like this club is making some great progress. We look forward to hearing more about their fun events and ladder league play.

Bob Huskey , USA Pickleball Ambassador for Lee County Alabama
Bob Huskey, age 57, has been very active in sports
throughout his life. His two main sports through his adult life have been golf and racquetball. He was introduced to golf at a young age, and played on his high school golf team, lettering 3 years. He continues to play golf nowadays with a 4 handicap.

His racquetball career started in his late twenties. He was so taken by
racquetball that playing 10 tournaments a year became the standard. During his career he won 7 individual Alabama State singles titles and 6 Alabama State doubles titles. He also won many other titles at other tournaments. He was inducted to the Alabama Racquetball Hall of Fame in 2006.

Meet Bob Huskey, Lee County, AL

Sharon Jones
USAPA Ambassador
Pendleton, SC
I grew up in Seattle, Washington where Pickleball was offered in all of the public schools through PE. I had been playing tennis for several years before I took Pickleball but it was “love at first smash”! All of the kids loved it and we’d play for hours. I assumed that it was a game that was played all across the country and was really disappointed when I moved away from Washington State and found other paddle and racquet games but none of them were the ‘real deal’. I continued to play tennis and let Pickleball go for many years. It was a sport that I missed a lot and while living in Florida I had begun to hear of it being played. So I began to dig around and found Pickleball websites, ordered a set and then introduced my husband Tim to the game.

Tim is a carpenter and my background is in Materials Engineering. I work as an adjunct instructor at Tri-County Community College and also as a substitute teacher in the county school district. I also have an art tile business and have just written and self-published my first book called, “VegGroovy Smoothies”. It is through this book that I ended up becoming a Pickleball ambassador because the book will be part of a program that will introduce kids to physical activities that are fun and can become part of a LIFETIME of being active. So what did I think represented a lifelong, fun, activity? Pickleball of course! I plan to introduce Pickleball this academic school year at Riverside Middle School here in Pendleton, SC.

Meet Frank Kinder

Ambassador

Indian Land, SC

Frank Kinder grew up in central Ohio participating in a variety of sports activities. He twice won district and regional championships in high school track & field for the long jump, and lettered as a freshman on an intercollegiate team that competed for the Big 10 Championship at Ohio State. Frank’s passion for athletic competition was highlighted several years ago. Along with wife and team mom, Carolyn (“Momma K” to the kids) he helped coach his son’s AAU basketball team through the Florida State qualifier, then drove them to the national championship in Greensboro, NC in the family’s van.

Frank discovered pickleball in the South Carolina active senior community, Sun City Carolina Lakes (SCCL) in 2009, and soon afterward was hooked for life! He is actively involved in the SCCL club, having served as Treasurer and Vice President. He currently chairs the Club’s competition committee, which develops numerous resident leagues throughout the year, organizes inter-community play with other local neighborhoods, and coordinates participation in regional tournaments.

Along with many other volunteers, Frank is helping event organizers manage the very first pickleball tournament played at the South Carolina Senior Sports Classic in 2011. He is honored to be affiliated with the USAPA, and looks forward to helping promote the dynamic growth of our favorite sport!

Rick Laskey,
USAPA Ambassador
Jacksonville, NC
Rick is a volleyball player and national volleyball referee who took up pickleball when he moved from Ohio to eastern North Carolina and found there was no senior volleyball and very little adult volleyball opportunities. He was born in New York City and grew up in Rockland County about an hour north of NYC. He moved to Xenia, OH (near Dayton) in the early 1970’s and started playing and later officiating volleyball all over the world.

Rick is the proud father of one son, Aaron, who lives in Yellow Springs, OH with his wife and two children, and a daughter, Rachel, who lives with her husband in Cambridge, MA. He and his wife, Connie, moved from Xenia to Jacksonville, NC in early 2003. Rick is retired from 30 years of computer programming and Connie teaches Special Education aboard the Camp Lejeune Marine Base.

Pickleball entered Rick’s life two years ago when he picked up an entry form for the Onslow County Senior Games and asked the Senior Director, JoJo Cariaso, “What’s pickleball?” Since then he has played several times a week with other seniors at the Jacksonville Commons Gym, and participated in tournaments in Chesapeake, VA, Troy, MI, Buckeye, AZ, and Fort Myers, FL.

Rick is working hard to promote pickleball in eastern North Carolina. He has initiated a petition drive to ask the city to line one or two of the new outdoor tennis courts, helped to run a demonstration of pickleball at a meeting of recreation directors, and spoken with representatives of the North Carolina Pickle Festival in Mt. Olive regarding running a pickleball tournament during that event. Two of his goals are to introduce pickleball to younger players in the school systems, and to have pickleball included in the North Carolina Senior Games each Fall.

MEET PAUL MEREDITH
USAPA AMBASSADOR
SUMMERFIELD, FL

When we moved to Del Webb, my wife found this interesting game, played for few weeks then invited me out to the courts. She beat me solidly, and the hook was set. It took me 9 months to figure out how to beat her. Having been raised in Florida, lived in New Hampshire and San Jose, Ca., the retirement to Florida came naturally. This game of Pickleball is the perfect past time. I was never into paddle sports nor tennis, so for the past 5 years my skills have come along more slowly than most. This is where the social aspect of the game comes in to provide support and encouragement. Our community is wonderfully supportive and makes the game a very enjoyable part of our life style.

I was fortunate to be the President of our communities Pickleball club for the past 2 years, and currently runs about 300 members. We have already posted some of the USAPA pages on our web site:

http://www.scccpickleball.com/

Best regards,
Paul

Meet Ron and Connie Monson. As full time RVers, they were recently appointed as Ambassdors At Large. Spending the majority of their time in our sunny south - they were appointed to the Atlantic South Region. Below, Connie helps us to get to know them a little better.

Welcome to our Atlantic South Pickleball Family!

Ron and I met about 16 years ago, in Columbia, MO and married 6 years later. We brought to this marriage 7 children. As of this date, we now have 16 grandchildren and one great grandchild. Thus far two of the grandchildren are pickleball players. What they lack in ability is far exceeded by enthusiasm for the sport.
We were introduced to picklball 3 years ago in Columbia while the group was just forming. At that time we only had access to a school gym one night per week. Later after many discussions with the parks and recreation department we were able to get two outdoor tennis courts lined for pickleball play and a sign posted saying "These courts are for tennis and pickleball." This was required because the tennis players were not liking our using their courts. Now Columbia, MO has two more outdoor courts lined for play and the number of players continues to grow. Ron and I both retired from the University of Missouri two years ago and we went directly to Sun City, FL, Kings Point, for our first winter of total freedom from work. We love it there and all the pickleball players there, thus we returned last year and will again this year. Unfortunately about a year ago, I took the sport a bit too seriously and while trying to get to an outside shot I fell and broke my wrist. However, this did not stop my enthusiasm for the sport. I just continued to play, but with my left hand. This really does take a lot of concentration. I am healed now and playing with the right and left hand. Meanwhile Ron continued to play and play in tournaments and get better at this sport. This is the one sport that we can do together, that we both enjoy, and can be competitive whether playing against each other or as partners.

Now, we are workampers and are currently in Topping, VA at the Grey's Point Camp on the Rappahannock River. We discovered that the YMCA in Kilmarnock, VA was trying to get pickleball established. We joined the "Y" in May and have been actively involved with teaching the sport and promoting it with the community. We began with 3-4 interested players and now have grown to 16 rather competitve players. Each week a new person arrives, shows interst, and we place a paddle in their hand and hook them on the sport. It truly has been fun to see each one of these people improve and having so much fun while learning this sport.

It is so easy to promote picklball no matter where our travels take us. We always bring it up while introducing ourselves and spread the word about how great this sport is for your health. It will improve your core strength, your reaction time, and keep you young, mentally and physically. The bonus is the making of new friends along the way.

The Past Ambassador of The Atlantic South Region- Neal Nightingale

Neal Nightingale has been active in the sports world for over 65 years. His past experiences include an extensive variety of sports involvement, both in the sports participation and sports education arena.Neal has won championships by himself, as well as with fellow team players, through competition in Football, Basketball, Tennis, Lawn Bowling and Pickleball. He has won State Championships in Pickleball Men’s Singles and Doubles and holds the title of World Champion in both Men’s Single’s and Doubles Pickleball. He is a four time World Champion.

Meet Neal Nighingale,Past Regional Ambassador, Atlantic South

Laura Patterson
USAPA Ambassador,
Winston-Salem, NC
Laura is originally from Detroit, MI. She and her husband George are the proud parents of two: a son, Jerry and a step-daughter, Lisa ( two grandsons). She is a retired Air Force Captain and just retured from her last job in March of 2009

Laura was originally introduced to pickleball in October of 2008 at the Midland Community Center where she usually played racquetball. She learned the game in about 15 minutes but did not get to play again soon as on the job travel took her overseas. It wasn't until almost five months later when she retired that she really started playing regularly. She played in her first tournament (MI Senior Olympics) in June of 2009 and also played in Buckeye, AZ in November of 2009 at our USAPA National Tournament. In September of 2009 the family relocated to North Carolina and Laura joined our Ambassador Program. Laura tells us: " I volunteered to be an Ambassador because they have no pickleball in Winston-Salem; but I am working very hard to change that! "

Wayne Roswell, USAPA, Former Ambassador, Sebring Florida

While no longer an Ambassador for the Atlantic South Region, Wayne is still considered one of the best 'leaders' in our Region and one of the most impressive promoters of this game.
Here is an article that Wayne wrote to introduce himself to the Region . I think it was the very first real article posted to the site. Enjoy

Meet Wayne Roswell

Dennis Sarlo USAPA Ambassador
The Villages, Fl
Dennis Sarlo, our neweset Ambassador from The Villages, Fl, is originally from New York. He relocated to The Villages part time in 2004 and then full time in 2006. As a former New York City school principal, Dennis fully understands the importance of physical activity and exercise for keeping a body healthy and a mind active.

As a member of the Geezers and Gals, pickleball league that plays regularly at the Bacall Rec Center, Dennis does not hesitate to take the lead, or to work with other leaders in the group in bringing the best of training and fun to the whole group.
Pickleball Clinics and Pizza are a regular staple for this group!

"I enjoy a variety of sports here in The Villages; the enormity of the offerings is one of the reasons for moving here,"Dennis says. "However, I would say that my first choice in sports is pickleball. I enjoy the physical activity of running and hitting, the strategy of anticipating a shot, and the friendship of the many pickleball players here in The Villages. Pickleball is probably one of the most popular sports giving each person of every level the opportunity to participate. I’m happy to serve as an Ambassador and encourage more and more people to try the game; I’m confident that they will enjoy it! "

Mary and Mike Selby, Ambassadors USAPA, Asheville, NC. Welcome to the newest ambassadors to the Atlantic South Region - Mary and Mike Selby

Mary and Mike Selby are pickleball-aholics………..and have been since they were introduced to the game about 8 years ago by Bob and Bev Youngren. They owned an RV and when they visited a park in California and played for the first time……..they were hooked!

Shortly after learning the game, they loved it SO much and wanted to play whenever they wished, they built a court in their yard in Fallbrook, California just outside of San Diego. They put in a concrete court with a small fence at the rear with commercial grade lights so they could play into the wee hours of the morning…..and they often did! They had wonderful neighbors who played with them, so that really helped! They even built a little shed to house a toilet and refrigerator so no one would have to go up to the main house while they were playing. "We played a LOT of pickleball…..and had a LOT of new friends!" says Mary.

Meet Mary and Mike Selby

MEET JAN SHARP - Atlantic South Region's newest Ambassador.

Jan resides in Franklin, SC, (in the winter) and has been very instrumental in starting up an enthusiastic pickleball group in that area. As our newest USAPA Ambassador, she will represent the Franklin, NC area. But she is sure to bring her "Ambassador Skills" to Ft. Myers, when she arrives to spend the winter!.

Below, Jan shares her pickleball story.

I played tennis all my life and had to give it up because of a bad shoulder, and knees. I first learned to play pickleball in Fort Myers, Florida in 2006. I loved it so much I decided to try and start it here in Franklin NC with our Senior’s group. I thought at first it would really be easy as we have a large group playing badminton at our local comunity center, and all we would have to do is to drop the nets to tennis height and we would be ready to go. Unfortunately, the pickleball wouldn’t bounce on the new floor that was put in the gym.

I then purchased a portable net set, and our Community Center Director designated a basketball court between the swimming pool and the tennis courts. I had some demonstration days, and we began play. I had to carry the set from my car down a small hill and put it up every time we played as it was also used for basketball. Then carry it back up the hill! We had to carry concrete blocks to stabilize the end posts, water was not enough. After the first year, the Park drilled some holes and put some small posts in, and lined two courts for us. The Park now puts them up and takes them down. At first we felt like we were a lot of trouble to the Park people. But now they are very cooperative as they see how much fun we have, and our growing group.
We now have from 12 to 20 people playing Monday and Wednesday mornings from 9am to about noon, and we are having a ball. A lot of our people (including me) go toFlorida for the winter, so our numbers are down then, but we have a very loyal group. It has been described as being a very addictive game. Our group is not restricted to Seniors,so we have some younger players as well. When kids visit their grandparents (most are in college), they come to play and love it. We were recently given permission to put up nets and play in our local National Guard Armory when the weather is bad .

I hope to do some demonstrations for some of the kids in the schools. I have talked to a few people but they have not responded yet. I hope to get to the right people at sometime. Most kids love it as much as we do.

Also, we have a number of players who want to go and play with other communities that have started it up much as we have. We now play in our local Senior Games as a "fun" activity. It will become official as soon as the North Carolina Senior Games puts it in their official competition. We hope this is only a year away.

Our dream is to have our own dedicated courts.

John Simpson, Ambassador, USAPA, Charlotte, NC

John Simpson is a doctor of psychology in his home town of Charlotte, South Carolina. John plays on a regular basis on the tennis courts of his town house complex with friends.

John has travel to the Huntsman Games in Utah to participate and meet fellow members of the USAPA.

I had the pleasure of playing with John on the streets of Mt Olive, North Carolina during the Pickle Festival last April. In order to promote Pickleball, John encourage the organizers of the festival to hold a Pickleball event as part of the festivities. Five players put on a demonstration of Pickleball for the crowd. This shows the kind of effort John is willing to go to in order to expand Pickleball in his home state.

Tim and Laura Statum,
Joint Ambassadors, Jefferson County, AL

Tim and I live in Graysville, Alabama and are Joint Ambassadors for Jefferson County. We have both always enjoyed sports and enjoy playing all types of games together, from checkers to ping pong to pickleball. My father and step mother have started a yearly tradition of spending a month at The Villages in Florida. We went down to visit them one year and they introduced us to pickleball and we fell in love with it. When we returned to Alabama, we were determined to find somewhere to play, however were quite disappointed to find out there was only one court and that it was located about 2 hours away, which is owned by Lee County, Alabama Ambassador Bob Huskey! Tim began talking to our Mayor about the possibility of painting pickleball court lines on Graysville’s tennis courts. The Mayor agreed that it would be a great idea, so now Graysville has two outdoor pickleball courts.

On May 30, 2009, we held a demonstration and introduced Pickleball to our community, which went very well. Bob Huskey was able to come from Opelika, Alabama and brought with him Pine Hill, Georgia Ambassador Cindy Moore. We enjoyed having them. They provided great assistance and played a very important part in making our demonstration a success.

Tim is a stand-up comedian and travels all over the country. He talks to as many people that will listen about Pickleball. He is also a guest on a local weekly radio show and talks about Pickleball every week. I am a paralegal at a local law firm and while I certainly don’t reach as many people as Tim does, I tell as many people about it as I can. We invite everyone to either play or watch us play on the courts in Graysville. We are hoping everyone will love it as much as we do. We want to promote the game as much as possible and are hoping to spread the word.

Robert G. Taylor
USAPA Ambassador, Anna Maria Island, FL.

Bob Taylor has spent most of his life with one kind of a racquet or another in his hand. It was 65 years ago, at the age of 13 that he started playing Badminton in Stratford, Ontario. He played the game for 30 years. While attending the University of Western Ontario, Bob served as the captain of the University’s Badminton Team for four years. During this same period Bob also enjoyed playing squash and tennis. While residing in Washington DC, he took on the competitive sport of racquetball until he retired in 1994. Meet Robert "Bob" Taylor

Liz Velazquez
USAPA Ambassador

Great Smokey Mountains, NC

Liz Velazquez is a naive of Columbia, South America. She and her family immigrated to the United States in the early 70's. She attended the University of California, Davis, majoring in social/cultural anthropology and in her last year at the University she was awarded a grant by the National Science Foundation to participate in a study of the migration to the United States by Mexicans and the effects immigration had on a family and their socio/economic conditions. She worked in social service assisting Cuban refugees and in real estate assisting financially challenged families. Her dream was to create a sanctuary for struggling children and their families, to provide educational, spiritual, motivational and recreational activities. And her dream became reality.
Meet Liz Velazquez

Donald Wheeler,
USAPA Ambassador
Hilton Head Island, SC
Donald and his wife Mary learned to play pickleball about two years ago from Indian Land, SC Ambassador, Jane Harvey and her husband. Over the past summer the four of them have been busy playing several times a week, but also recruiting and teaching new players the game. Hilton Head Island is the second largest barrier island on the East Coast, with a population of only 35-40,000, but it attracts 2 million visitors a year. Hilton Head Island, with the numerous hard surface tennis court open to the public, is a perfect location to recruit new players, build a strong pickleball community and perhaps showcase our great sport one day soon. He has already acquired permission to chalk pickleball lines on the courts at the south end of the island, and has requested permission to do the same at the northern end. "I feel that offering free lessons with free use of equipment (we have enough for 8 people) as well as free court time, a consistent play time, both in the morning and evening on different days to accommodate the working and retired populous, would generate interest in the sport on HHI."

Don & Mary’s home is now in Webster, NY but they will soon be re-locating to Hilton Head Island, SC. and we welcome them to our Atlantic South Pickleball Family.

Meet Bruce
and Gena Whitehead
Joint Ambassadors,
Venice/Sarasota, Florida

(Article by Gena Whitehead)
"We have been playing for almost three years and have a lifestyle that lends itself to the sport of pickleball. We learned to play pickleball during the summer of 2007 at a Thousand Trails campground in St. Clair, Michigan. Fortunately for us several of the people we met that summer spend the winter in Florida and we are able to meet up with them at a Thousand Trails campground in Wauchula, FL. We sold our home in Englewood, Florida last year but spend the winter in our hometown. While we are in Englewood we play up to 5 days a week with friends in the area. We have an active group of people who play, and are listed on the USAPA site as the Venice-Sarasota Pickleball Club.

A little bit about ourselves - we met in High School and were married in 1974. We have a son Andy, his wife Melisa, and a 4 year old grandson. Our grandson, Nate, is the reason we return to Florida for the winter. He knows all about our pickleball schedule and tries to convince us he can play if we would only let him on the court.

Bruce retired in 2007 after serving as a Lieutenant for the Sarasota County Sheriff's Department for 34 1/2 years. He was in charge of the Crime Scene Lab (CSI) for most of his career. Gena was in dental administration and retired in 2005.
No matter if we are on the road in our RV or in Englewood for the winter we are able to find a game of pickleball somewhere. We are grateful for the people who taught us the game and are happy to return the favor by teaching others how to play as well. We look forward to many more years on the court and are happy to serve as Ambassadors for the advancement of the game of pickleball."

Bruce and Gena played a key role in bringing pickleball to the Venice/Sarasota area especially encouraging the tennis complex to paint lines for the pickleball players. Former Ambassador, Jack Beck speaks highly of these two, telling us what great pickleball leaders they are in the community. They will be a true asset to the growth of this great game.

Welcome Aboard!!

Jerry Eamer
USAPA Ambassador, Conway, SC

Please extend your best Atlantic South Welcome to Jerry Eamer, our newest Ambassador representing Conway, South Carolina. Jerry and his wife are both enjoying retirement now. They originate from the Rochester and Watertown area in upstate NY and relocated to SC about three years ago. Jerry has always enjoyed sports, especially tennis and racquet ball and so when he was introduced to pickelball just a year ago he was immediately addicted and committed to promoting this new sport.

Jerry tells us there are currently about 40 players in his area; a small group that plays in his community and a larger group who play in nearby Myrtle Beach.

One of his first goals was to attract new USAPA members and during his first month, he brought 7 new members into our pickleball family. He has already been in contact with the local parks and recreation department as well as a private recreation club to introduce the game. He is excited about trying to introduce pickleball into the local Senior Games and working with other local ambassadors in NC and SC to build some competitive tournament play.

Welcome aboard Jerry!

Atlantic South Ambassador Page