Pickleball Magazine 2-6 Courtesy of PickleballTournaments | Page 58

peace
PIC K L E FO R
BY LINDA CHEN EINSIEDLER, PHD, USAPA ATLANTIC REGION ASST. REGIONAL DIRECTOR
P
icture this: Girls and boys from
war conflict countries around
the world playing pickleball
for the first time in their lives.
Afghani and Pakistani kids dinking
together on the same side of the
court, a Jewish Israeli and Pakistani
Muslim high-fiving each other after
every point, Muslim girls wearing
their colorful hijab headscarves
beaming after returning serve for the
first time…
There is something magical
happening in Otisfield, Maine, where
pickleball was first introduced to
Seeds of Peace, a leadership camp for
American and international teenagers
from war conflict countries/regions
including the Middle East, Asia, UK,
and Africa (www.SeedsofPeace.org).
Every summer, campers are selected
to attend and learn how to be leaders
through open communication, open
dialogue, listening, and trust-building
skills, which they will take back to
their native countries in leadership
roles.
If you play pickleball long enough,
you are lucky to reconnect with
past friends. In 2015, Dick Romeo
(former Portland, Maine, lawyer, now
Seeds of Peace dialogue counselor)
called me to reconnect, talk about
his role at Seeds, and discuss how to
bring pickleball to the international
campers. That summer, pickleball
volunteer Robin Kessler and I drove
up with generous donations of Onix
balls and paddles.
It didn’t matter that we played
on temporary courts taped in an
overgrown street hockey arena, as the
sessions were completely filled with
eager kids—most of whom had never
played this game. We gave several
introductory clinics. The kids learned
quickly about the two-bounce and
kitchen rules, sometimes speaking
in different languages to coach each
other about when to attack together
“earning the net.”
One month later, Robin and I were
invited back to watch campers play
their first pickleball tournament in
the annual Color Games. We were
amazed at how quickly these young
kids had progressed from barely
making contact to now playing
serious points. The tournament finals
American and Middle Ea stern players on old pickleball courts.
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