AROUND THE WORLD
By Alex Hamner &
Tuomo Antikainen
Pickleball is taking
Finland by storm—
and the Finnish
are loving it.
Pickleball's Foothold in Finland
The things you do for love! Ray
Schiltz and his wife, Tina, lived in
southern Wisconsin. But as they
agreed prior to tying the knot, they
moved to Tina’s native Finland when
Ray retired in 2013. They settled in
Espoo, a southern town west of the
capital Helsinki with a population of
about 275,000.
But even traveling 4,400 miles
across the Atlantic couldn't cure Ray's
addiction to pickleball. When packing
70
for the big move, he made sure to take
several paddles and balls, determined
to continue playing the sport he'd
grown to love in the three years he'd
been playing.
Th