I have caught the pickleball bug. I kept hearing my friend, Grace, talk about how much she loves pickleball and how fun it is. Finally, last summer I took it upon myself to google where all the pickleball courts are near where I live and how to try it out. I found a new indoor pickleball place called RECS in the Clackamas area. I saw that they offered free introductory classes and made my sister, Jessie join me. I took advantage of a prime deal and bought a set of paddles and balls. The intro class was full and there were 25 folks standing around waiting for the class to start. Steve and Paul were the instructors. Steve is a retired PE teacher and also a hall of fame pickleball player. I loved how diverse the group was although slightly skewed to the older population. Both instructors were super enthusiastic and all the drills felt doable. It was fun to face off different folks while fumbling and knew that you can’t take it too seriously hitting a plastic wiffleball. The two hours went by so quickly and then the owner, Kevin came out to chat about membership and jokingly said the intro class is free because it’s like giving your first hit free but thereafter you’ll be hooked. He was right about that.
My sister who usually deviates away from physical activity was also intrigued. I also signed up for another intro class at the George Rogers Park (which recently banned pickleball due to noise complaints) in Lake Oswego with my friend, Jessica who also is usually not super keen on physical activity. She did have an advantage of having a tennis background. Jessica was sold as well. The seasoned folks who were typically older were super impressive players. I wish I’d be as agile at that age as well. I also brought in Celine and encouraged her to give it a try. Jessica became a pickleball evangelist. She created a pickleball slack channel and brought in more coworkers. We set out to play every weekend and mainly our core 4 folks but have other folks drop in every few weeks.
You can immediately dive in with a low barrier to entry. It’s been a super low key way to socialize while shit talk and vent out any frustrations you may have on the court. I mean Jessica has been known to threaten with her eyes and walk over stoically with paddle in hand to shake at you. She takes her paddle to the net when she misses with her low fast serves. It’s fun to poke at her seemingly threatening anger playing pickleball whereas Celine yells Irish profanities where our court neighbors would turn their heads. It’s all acceptable for a bit of pickleball fun. I got the nickname, Lethal Lucy, which I swear my returns aren’t as scary as Jessica’s in my opinion. It’s even super fun to see Jessie with her manipulative strategy of making folks run from side to side to win her game point. Our group has grown to around 8 folks. I look forward every week to an engaging game of pickleball with friends over foul-mouth, socially awkward quirkiness all displayed on the court. It has been a godsend to be able to come back together in-person from 3 years of the pandemic.
Travelogue 