W
hen Mo Mansaray started
playing pickleball
about six years ago, he
thought a lot about the
sport. A resident of Ogden, UT, Mansaray was
born and raised in Sierra Leone, Africa, and
had always been athletic, playing volleyball
for the country on its national team.
But pickleball was different; it has a
social aspect that unites people. And in a
country like Sierra Leone—with such a large
gap between the rich and poor—Mansaray
thought pickleball could bridge that gap and
bring people together.
“The wealthy can enjoy playing tennis and
golf, but those less fortunate can’t afford to
play these sports,” he explains. “I wanted to
give kids of all backgrounds the opportunity
to play pickleball.”
Through friends and companies like
Selkirk, which endorses Mansaray as
a player, he was able to prepare an ambassador tour like no other. He
collected supplies and solicited donations. He shipped the bulk of his donated
equipment ahead of time, and traveled with four suitcases of paddles.
“By the time I got to Sierra Leone, everything was already there. Only two
nets I purchased didn’t make it and I was able to buy new ones there,” he says.
On the ground, Mansaray began his whirlwind tour, meeting with schools
and institutions to teach anyone interested how to play and enjoy pickleball.
“I got a lot of people each time, definitely 50-plus,” he recalls. “I’d spend
three days at a time at each location and then move on. I was able to teach a
lot of youth and a few adults. I packed tape to mark off the courts, but it was
too time consuming, so I ended up using chalk to mark the lines quicker.”
Mansaray added that he would start with a core of students eager to learn,
and at each site the number of people grew just from curiosity.
“When I was at the tennis stadium in Freetown, I taught people with a
tennis background and they caught on quickly,” he says. “Others would
watch and ask, ‘What game is this?’ The kids who were too poor to play other
sports were very interested. Usually, they’re too scared to even walk onto
the courts because they feel they don’t belong, but I gave them paddles and
taught them to play. My target is not just the wealthy, but the kids or adults
who don’t see themselves playing pickleball because they’re worried they
can’t afford it or that they don’t belong. These are people who were really
excited about the game!”
Mansaray’s trip was so successful that he plans to return in 2020 with even
more supplies and enthusiasm. In the meantime, he’s set up a nonprofit called
Pickleball Safari International that will unite the U.S. and Sierra Leone in
their love of the sport, and with the goal to grow the game. With seven million
people in a country that’s roughly the size of South Carolina, the undertaking
will keep him busy for a while.
“Most kids and adults I work with are just excited to learn this new sport,
and I’m happy to teach it,” says Mansaray. “If they have questions about the
game after I leave, we talk on Facebook or WhatsApp. For my next trip, I plan
to bring a few people to help me with the teaching.” •
MARCH/APRIL 2019 |
MAGAZINE
59