Doerun ’ s Wanda Oliver — one of a growing number of local pickleball players — returns a shot at the recent South Georgia Classic pickleball tournament held at the Moultrie YMCA . Photo by Jessi Flowers
To show his children how fun it could be , he recruited two other dads , Bill Bell and Barney McCallum , and did exactly what he had suggested to his children : He made up a game with his friends and spent the summer playing it outside . Thus was the birth of pickleball . “ I played for the first time in Illinois and thought , man this is great ,” said Dr . Seth Berth , Colquitt County ’ s ambassador with the USA Pickleball Association , and who many consider one of the founders of pickleball in Colquitt County . “ For about a year there were no courts in Moultrie . I went to Thomasville two to three days a week to play . I also converted my old tennis court and taped lines on it .”
About three years ago , Moultrie saw its first official pickleball courts through the YMCA .
Starting with two indoor courts , played in the basketball gym with freestanding nets , Colquitt County has since exploded in the world of Pickleball .
“ We did a couple fundraisers ,” said Berl . “ People in Moultrie are very giving , and that started the funding for pickleball .”
Since those 2020 fundraisers , the YMCA has built a fenced , outdoor facility with six regulation pickleball courts ; and Georgia saw its first pickleball tournament south of Macon when the Moultrie YMCA hosted the first annual South Georgia Classic last year .
The Moultrie-Colquitt County Park and Recreation Authority has jumped on the bandwagon and converted two of its tennis courts into five pickleball courts , giving the community a free option for playing .
24 MoultrieScene JUNE 2023