Regional matters continued sayings is,“ I never lose. Either I win or I learn.” She continues to learn each day and is forever grateful and blessed for all of the friendships she has made since she started playing pickleball back in 2013.
Linda Hoggatt
Linda plays with the Sun City Grand and Surprise Pickleball Clubs in Arizona and recently retired as the
Regional Director for the Southwest.
A native of Eureka, California, Linda and her late husband, Don Kiernan, had owned a chain of grocery stores in Oregon known as Kacy’ s Markets.
A great lover of the open skies, Linda got her pilot’ s license in 1980 and began living out her dream of flying as a pilot for Southern Oregon Skyways. She received her multi-engine rating and her IFR rating and was working on her commercial license when her husband passed away, essentially grounding her with three children at home.
Linda sold the business and went to work for the Ashland, Oregon, Police Department where she was a 9-1-1 supervisor, records supervisor and Administrative Services Officer doing crime analysis.
In 1990, she met Paul Hoggatt, and two years later they were married. Deciding to move to Arizona, Linda retired from the Ashland Police Department in 2006.
Linda and Paul were both softball players, playing in travel and recreation leagues until they found pickleball, which soon became an obsession for them.
When Juanita Vincent retired in 2014 as the Southwest Regional Director for the USAPA, Linda stepped in and filled the role. As Regional Director,
she has seen firsthand the explosive growth of pickleball in Arizona and New Mexico. Linda implemented the annual Ambassador Review Program, which is still being used across the country, and appointed the first Regional Educational Ambassador. In May, she retired as the Southwest Regional Director and now is spending some of her time as a Referee Certification Evaluator.
Bud Lite
With a name like Bud Lite, how could the USAPA’ s newest Regional Director for the Southwest not have fun on the pickleball courts?
Larry“ Bud” Lite now helps oversee the sport for pickleball’ s governing body in the states of New Mexico, Arizona and Mexico along with Costa Rica. He has been playing, teaching and sharing his knowledge of pickleball since 2009, along with his wife, Judy.
Bud was instrumental in having the first permanent pickleball complex( 18 courts) built in Albuquerque. From August 3-8, Albuquerque will host the 32nd Annual National Veterans Golden Age Games. Over 500 pickleball players are registered to play. Then next year, June 14-25, the city will host the National Senior Games, which is estimated to bring in upwards of 1,000 pickleball players from around the country.
Bud Lite is certainly quenching the thirst of so many who want to play the great game of pickleball.
Keith Wolverton
A graduate of Michigan State University, Keith Wolverton served our country in Vietnam and later retired from the
Los Angeles Inspector General’ s Office where he was the in-charge Senior Director. Keith and his wife decided to move back to the Midwest and began playing pickleball in 2011 and haven’ t stopped hitting the courts ever since.
He is now the USAPA Regional Director for the Great Lakes and has been instrumental in the rapid growth of the sport in his home state. Keith helped form the Grand Rapids Pickleball Club, which has grown from about 50 original members to over 600 players today. He was also the tournament director of the last two State Games of Michigan and the 2017 State Games of America, which featured over 600 registered players.
Keith continues to be active in all things pickleball and helping new players learn the fun of the sport.
Bill Hess
Bill Hess’ love of sports began on the wrestling mat where he was the Georgia State Chairman for USA Wrestling – the governing body for amateur and Olympic wrestling in the United States. While he spent a short amount of time as a teacher and coach, Bill also worked in sales of sporting goods and marine products for numerous manufacturers.
He and his wife, Carole, first picked up a pickleball paddle about nine years ago and continue to play at the North Georgia Pickleball Club in Canton. A former USAPA Ambassador in Cherokee County, Georgia, he currently is the Atlantic South Regional Director for the USAPA. With a BS degree from Upper Iowa University, Bill also earned a master’ s from the University of Northern Colorado. •
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