Pickleball Popularity Growing in South Windsor

On a recent warm Wednesday afternoon, the gymnasium at the Ellsworth School was thumping as brightly colored wiffle balls were batted to and fro over a short net.

The four people on the makeshift courts were intermittently laughing and serious as they worked on their volleys, ground strokes, dinks and serves. Pickleball might be just a game, but the participants in the one-day clinic hosted by the South Windsor Department of Human Services were there for two reasons: improve their skills and have fun.

Considered as is one of the nations fastest growing sports, pickleball leagues are popping up throughout the region, with the largest organized groups in South Windsor and Manchester.

The sport is a hybrid of tennis, ping-pong and badminton that involves a low net and allows participants to play at their own skill level. Like tennis, you can play doubles or singles and the goal is to get the ball over the net and past your opponent(s).

"It keeps you running and works on your hand-eye coordination," Manchester resident Beth Larson said after a recent match.

Larson, an avid tennis player, was introduced to the game of pickleball when her daughter, who lives in Phoenix, AZ, saw it being played on a court near her house.

"The sport is growing, more people are participating," Larson said.

Such growth has been evident in South Windsor over the past year, according to Senior Services Program Coordinator Tracy Conery.

"You don't need a background in a racquet sport or a tremendous amount of athletic ability to be good a pickleball," Conery said recently. What you need is the desire to participate and be active.

The league started out in a room at the town community center and quickly outgrew its setting. Matches are now played in the Ellsworth School gym and on an outdoor court at the middle school.

There are currently 75 people on the town pickleball distribution list and as people return to the area from Florida, where they winter, the list could grow. Conery, an official USA Pickleball Association ambassador, said the South Windsor club pulls people from throughout the area and even Massachusetts.

"There's a great group of people who play. It's more social, interactive, and you can make the action fit your skill level," South Windsor resident Tom Bartomeli, 65, said after the recent clinic.

Bartomeli, who has played since November 2012, said although the league is drop-in play, the best way to get involved is to find a pickleball mentor and contact the town human services department.

The South Windsor Pickleball Club is currently open to people 55 years and older, but if interest grows among younger residents a second league could be started. For more information about the club contact the town Department of Human Services at (860) 648-6361.