Pickleball Magazine 2-4 Courtesy of The Pickleball Guru | Page 15

John Lively
PLAYER PROFILE
ON
THE
BIT
for Pickleball
I
n this sport, it’s not
unusual to meet people
from all walks of life, but
when was the last time you
met a Preakness-winning
jockey on the tournament
circuit?
John Lively is a player
who happens to have one
of the more interesting
backstories you’ll ever hear,
retiring from the track
after more than 28,000
races and nearly 3,500
career wins. He’s ridden
in the Kentucky Derby five times — with third place as his
best finish in that race; he won the Preakness the first time
he rode in it (and came in second the second time); and he
rode in the Belmont Stakes once.
Lively started riding to make a living back in 1967-
68 and retired in 1991 at the age of 48, fairly old for a
jockey at that time. Then again, Lively’s riding career also
gave him more injuries than if he had played in the NFL.
He’s broken a handful of ribs and his shoulder on several
separate occasions. The cumulation of a career’s worth of
injuries, including chronic neck pain, was what made Lively
decide to give up jockeying for good.
“You don’t ride very long without having some kind
of injuries,” says the 74-year-old Lively. “I was very, very
blessed that I never really had anything
broken that would hamper my athleti-
cism. Sure, I had some broken bones,
but nothing that didn’t knit back 100
percent — nothing that affects my pick-
leball playing, or maybe that’s why I’m
not a 5-0 player.”
And while he’s lived a life of excite-
ment on the track, pushing horses to
their limits, Lively’s foc