The first of three pickleball days had addicted players arriving Friday for Salisbury’s biggest tournament so far.
Already 190 players from 11 states had registered. Some were former national tournament winners, some were novices and most came from out of town.
Several professional players are expected.
Only a few years ago, few people knew much about pickleball in this area. Now, Salisbury has become a popular place for sports.
Luke travels the country promoting pickleball and has the merit of having fueled the popularity of the game in the areas of Salisbury and Winston-Salem.
“I had a college player in Florida with the spring break they wanted to spend the week playing pickleball,” Luke said. “And he wanted to play against the best, so I told him to come to this area.”
Like many of the tournament’s competitors, Luke was a tennis player until he tried pickleball four years ago.
And now I’m so addicted that I play every day,” he said. “It works. Playing pickleball is like a family. We play together, we sit together, we eat together and we enjoy each other. “one another”.
Players are classified into different levels and compete in single, double and mixed doubles.
Proclaimed the fastest growing sport in America, pickleball was introduced in 1965. Played on indoor and outdoor courts, the game is a branch of tennis played on a badminton court with paddle and a more solid version of whiffle ball.
It is considered a sport throughout the year and has its own governing body and coverage of the championship on ESPN.
The tournament will also have an economic advantage.
The tournament will raise about $ 9,000 to support the YMCA Open House program, which provides financial assistance to individuals and families who may not otherwise be able to pay for membership or Y programs, he said.
I was a racquetball player and also enjoyed running, volleyball and basketball. He’s competing with a new playerr in double pickleball.
“Three years ago, I had several friends playing but I didn’t know what pickleball was,” he said. “It was easy for me to collect and cheaply, plus you don’t need much natural talent, doubles require racket speed and good melee coordination.”
“Everyone will help you learn to play,” he added. “I just moved here from Baltimore a year ago and Pickleball introduced me to a group of people. It became my entire social life.”
“I became his double mate when he asked a group of people and nobody else would,” said Terry.
Women represent about 40% of the tournament field.
“My father in New Jersey was really interested in pickleball and wanted me to play,” he said. “I didn’t want to, but now I’m addicted to it, this is my fourth tournament, my first time playing single, it’s competitive and a great workout, right now I like double for the team and the social aspects of pickleball that for tennis and we will eliminate the stigma that sport is only for the elderly “.
In this sense, the tournament director stated that some of the City Park tennis courts are becoming for pickleball. There are also agreements with southern and Knox high schools so that physical education teachers and trainers can promote pickleball among their students.
The tournament director himself is a highly qualified player who runs multiple tournaments in the area and Luck attributes the popularity of pickleball to Salisbury.
“My goal is to create memories and many new experiences. Pickleball is becoming more competitive with up to 2,000 players in national tournaments.”
I still plays tennis, racquetball, squash and badminton. Saturday he will play in a racquetball tournament in Charlotte before returning to Salisbury to play more pickleballs on Sunday.
“I’ve been playing Pickleball for five years, but it was easy to learn,” he said. “Watch video
