Page 104 - South Mississippi Living - May, 2016

SPORTS & OUTDOORS in full swing
A new paddle sport fun for all ages and skill levels is taking South Mississippi by storm
story by Lynn Lofton photos by James Edward Bates
TOP LEFT: Carl Alley returns a serve during pickleball play at Donal Snyder Community Center in Biloxi.
TOP RIGHT: Julie Peine awaits the pickleball. BOTTOM LEFT: Glenn Bremenkamp gets ready to return the pickleball. BOTTOM MIDDLE: Linda Perkes celebrates a victory. BOTTOM RIGHT: George Hults, 85, serves the ball during a match.
new sport, pickleball, is growing in popularity in South Mississippi. It’s played on an indoor court with paddles and nets combining elements of tennis, badminton, and ping pong. The net is two inches shorter than a tennis net, and the
court is the size of a badminton court.
“During the summer of 1966, a group of fathers trying
to entertain their families vacationing on Bainbridge
Island in Washington state tried to set up a badminton game. They couldn’t find the shuttlecock, so they cut some paddles out of plywood, lowered the badminton net, borrowed a whiffle ball from a young neighbor. And this is where the game of pickleball got its start,” says local player Deonne Linenberger. “It has since grown to be the fastest growing sport in the U. S. with 2, 460,000 players, and more than 4000 sites to play.”
She adds that the participants usually play doubles and
104 SOUTH MISSISSIPPI Living • May 2016
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