Winter Garden Heritage Foundation serves up community through pickleball

Why do you play pickleball?

The answer was simple for participants at Winter Garden’s pickleball courts’ open play: “It’s social.” 

Dozens stood on the sidelines of the community courts, chatting amongst each other as all eight courts were filled with teams of two players. The sounds of the wooden paddles making contact with the plastic balls ricocheted throughout the area. 

Players tapped their paddles together, using them as “hands” for a high-five, after winning the point. A similar scene occurred when they began games. All four players met at the net, tapping their paddles and introducing themselves before gameplay began. 

Pickleball was created in 1965. In 1984, the USA Pickleball Association was formed and the sport slowly began to spread, especially to retirees, and the first nationals formed in 2009. Through the 2010s, the sport continued to spread throughout the U.S. for its lower-impact nature. 

Then, in 2020, it exploded. Participation grew 21% in 2020, and by 2022, participation doubled to almost 8.9 million players in the United States. 

Now, to appeal to the popularity of the sport and the community building it creates, the Winter Garden Heritage Foundation is hosting its inaugural Paddles for the Past Pickleball Tournament. 

PICKLERS TOURNAMENT

Kristi Karst Gomen, Winter Garden Heritage Foundation’s executive director, said the inspiration stemmed from golf tournaments the foundation has done in the past. The organization was searching for new ways to bring the community together, and with pickleball’s popularity and welcomeness to all age groups, it was perfect. 

But the popularity brought a dilemma. There has become more picklers, who are dedicated pickleball players, so where would they find courts they could actually reserve? 

In came the Central Florida YMCA. Karst Gomen said it donated two indoor courts for the tournament. 

The Dr. Phillips YMCA has a larger facility, so the recreational and advanced players will compete there, while the 65-year-old-plus players will compete at Roper YMCA because of its size. Players can either sign up individually and be placed in a team or sign up in pairs. 

Karst Gomen has seen the recreational and 65-plus players looking to have fun and fellowship from the tournament, while the competitive groups want to win. The foundation is using the DUPR system, an individual player rating used to calculate the team’s rating, to better accommodate the competitive players. All competitive players must have a DUPR rating of 3.5 to 4.5 or have two years or more of experience. 

First-place winners of the tournament will receive a golden paddle trophy and a medal. Second- and third-place winners also will receive a medal. There also will be swag bags and light bites of healthy breakfast for the players. 

The YMCAs have been wonderful throughout the whole process, Karst Gomen said. Not only did they provide the two locations for the foundation to use, but also they have been instrumental in teaching about the logistics of the tournament. The YMCA taught them how tournaments work and how many players and teams they should do. 

Karst Gomen, someone who was unfamiliar with pickleball before planning the tournament, now understands the rapid climb in popularity. She has seen the passion within players and the abundance of groups out there, as well as how players find pickleball as a way to stay healthy and meet others. 

“I love that, and that’s what the Winter Garden Heritage Foundation is all about,” she said. “We’re all about our community and introducing people and meeting your neighbor, learning new things. So for us, this fits into our whole overarching plan and who we are and how we want to be out there in West Orange County.” 

COMMUNITY SPORT 

Pickleball is all about community.

Heidi Goldstein, a player at Winter Garden’s courts, has been playing pickleball for two years, and she said the social aspect is what keeps her coming back. She has wanted to start playing ever since going on a cruise that had pickleball but was nervous because she was a newbie. One day, she was in her hair salon and a woman invited her to play. 

“The people are so welcoming,” she said. “You can be bad, you can be good, it doesn’t matter. … It’s addicting.” 

Lisa DeLoney, a member of West Orange Trail SoleMates, was introduced to pickleball through the running club. Instantly, she loved finding another venue to interact with others. 

DeLoney and Goldstein see each other at least once per week on the courts. They smile, laugh and create memories under the sun. 

Winter Garden’s open pickleball play is organized chaos. People use their paddles to reserve their spots when they wait for an open court. They come in pairs or randomly play with someone new and form another bond. The exchange of teams, the willingness to step in if someone is alone or step up and share knowledge are the elements creating a social environment. It’s not every man for himself or “I’m going to stick with my friends.”

When DeLoney began playing pickleball one-and-one-half years ago, a gentleman took her under his wing and showed her how to become a pickler. She said she had never felt more welcomed and knew it would be a place she could develop relationships. And since then, she’s been hooked.

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WARM WELCOME

With my reporter hat on, I took to Winter Garden’s courts to talk with picklers to see what their “why” was and at that moment, a man approached asking if I wanted to play. I explained what I was there for — to report on the sport for the paper — and instantly he grabbed a spare paddle, took me to a court and showed me the ropes. 

My reaction? Shocked. Never before someone had been so welcoming. 

There I was, admittedly slightly nervous to stop people in the middle of their game, and instantly the nerves melted away. 

For an hour, we stayed on the courts until my feet fitted with Converse couldn’t take the concrete anymore. We never kept score — although he was clearly talented — we played recreationally. The former tennis player almost was at his one-year anniversary of joining pickleball.

We served the ball back and forth. He reminded me to stop my body movement before I hit the ball and how to grip and wing the paddle, the whole time remaining patient. 

After leaving and driving away in the car, all I could think was, “Wow, that just happened?”

And then I understood what everyone else had been saying: Pickleball is social. You don’t have to be the best of the best, you can be a beginner or someone who hasn’t played in years, like me, and still be welcomed onto the court.