Taylor Nichols began playing pickleball two years ago . by BOB REINERT
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Pickleball ’ s First Adaptive Triple Crown Winner Looks Ahead
Taylor Nichols began playing pickleball two years ago . by BOB REINERT
In the first year that adaptive divisions were included in the Biofreeze USA Pickleball National Championships , Taylor Nichols won a Triple Crown .
While proud of the individual achievement of winning three gold medals , the 32-year-old from Burleson , Texas , also saw something even bigger at play .
“ It means the world to me , honestly , to do that ,” Nichols said . “ I think what is even better and what ’ s more satisfying is just seeing how much ( adaptive pickleball ) has grown this year .”
Nichols won the wheelchair co-ed singles , co-ed doubles and hybrid doubles ( with a standing partner ) 4.5 division titles at Nationals , the premier pickleball championship held in November in Mesa , Arizona . Nichols , who is paralyzed from the chest down following a spinal cord injury while competing in motocross at age 26 , has spent almost seven years in intense rehabilitation to strengthen his core . He began playing pickleball less than two years ago .
Nichols discovered pickleball while on a date at a Chicken N Pickle restaurant in the Dallas-Fort Worth area . It was like a light switch had been flipped , he said , and his connection to the sport was immediate .
“ I didn ’ t know anything about pickleball then ,” he said . “ This sport really and truly could be for anyone . It doesn ’ t matter your limitations . It doesn ’ t matter if you ’ re a wheelchair user . It doesn ’ t matter your age , your gender , whatever .”
Key for adaptive pickleball ’ s appeal , Nichols said , is that it doesn ’ t necessitate contact , like some other wheelchair sports , and the intensity can be dialed up or
“ I ’ m a competitor ,” said Nichols , who also plays for the USA Wheelchair Football League champion Dallas Cowboys , and other sports . “ You never know what ’ s going to happen to you . You can do anything that you want to do . An athlete is an athlete . That ’ s kind of my motto . Anything ’ s possible with hard work and the right mindset .”
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