FROM THE USAPA
California Central Coast is Blooming
Pickleballs
BY DR. KATHRYN THOMAS, DISTRICT AMBASSADOR, CALIFORNIA CENTRAL COAST AND STEVE SIDWELL, USAPA ASSISTANT REGION
DIRECTOR, WEST REGION
T
he California Central Coast has taken to pickleball like
surfers to water. With no play venues just five years
ago, now there are more than 20 within Santa Barbara,
San Luis Obispo, and Monterey counties. Pickleball play
is available every day of the week. We also now have 12
Ambassadors throughout the Central Coast region to
answer questions and make your visit a pleasant one. The
CA Central Coast is approximately equidistant between
Los Angeles and San Francisco. With plenty of beaches,
wineries, antique shops, art galleries, coffee kiosks, RV
parks, hotels, missions, museums, outdoor markets, state
beaches, Hearst Castle and fine dining, it is a popular
getaway destination for travelers from all over the world.
Pickleball has become one of the major attractions for
visitors to the Central Coast. While wine and beaches don’t
hurt, players love to come to the area and sample a variety
of courts, players, and levels of ability. Each venue has
something unique, and being able to discover the variety of
ways a venue has of presenting court designations, wait-list
styles, court surfaces, court enclosures, etc.—all within
easy driving distance of each other—adds to the joy of
pickleball-play discovery.
The first pickleball courts on the CA Central Coast
opened in Cambria in May 2012. For three years, the die-
hards of Cambria taped, un-taped, and re-taped their four
56
courts, set up nets and took them down three days a week.
When a donor unexpectedly gave an incredibly generous
donation, the Cambria pickleball players raised a total of
$200,000 to build six permanent courts from the ground
up. These courts opened in September 2015 and are now
open seven days a week to the public.
When Jack Hodges, now a District Ambassador in Ha-
waii, came to town, he offered the first official pickleball
clinic in Paso Robles in 2013. One person attended. At the
next one, attendance doubled.
Not one to give up, Jack began clinics in Paso, Atascade-
ro, and San Luis Obispo, and each time attendance in-
creased. With his urging, Paso players became proactive in
finding space for the first permanent courts in the district,
raising $22,000 to resurface the rarely used roller hockey
rink at Centennial Park. Now there are five courts open to
the public, and Paso Robles has hosted the largest pick-
leball tournaments in the district, welcoming nearly 200
players for the annual Wine Country Classic two-day tour-
nament. Paso Robles, like venues all around it, has players
from all over the world visiting the courts and enjoying the
local ambience.
Morro Bay was the third venue to achieve permanent
courts. Like other locales around the United States, Morro
Bay players initially requested just one tennis court striped
TO SUBSCRIBE CALL 888.308.3720 OR GO TO THEPICKLEBALLMAG.COM