AROUND THE POST
It’s the pickleball journey,
not the destination.
BY JENNIFER LUCORE & ALEX HAMNER
F
or us, it’s about
the journey—that’s
how we roll with
our pickleball
travels around the
world. There are
many facets to the journey,
but number one is to have
fun! Here’s an entertaining
story from one of our
journeys to a US Open
tournament.
We were packed up
in our hometown, San
Diego, and ready to catch
our flights to Naples.
One plane ride down,
we were at the gate for
the next leg of the trip
when we ran into several
pickleball players. This is
a common occurrence that
we love. One particular player is the handsome,
40-something pro originally from Poland—
Marcin Rozpedski—who beat Kyle Yates in the
epic finals of the Open Singles that year.
We know Marcin so we greet each other and
spend several minutes catching up. Marcin
is seated eight rows ahead of us, so it’s time
to have some fun. We chat it up with the
flight attendant and share that a superstar
professional athlete is on board and we’re so
excited and giddy and would love his autograph,
but we’re too shy to approach him personally!
We ask the flight attendant if she’d do us a favor
and get his autograph.
She walks up the aisle to check that he’s legit and
says, “OK, girls, let’s do this.” We giggle and whisper
and thank her profusely as we hand her a piece of scrap
paper. She says, “If you’re going to do this right, you
need your boarding pass to make it a good souvenir
and keepsake.” As she
approached him, we’re
acting like a couple of
schoolgirls blushing
and hiding our heads
behind our seats. She
hands him the paper and
pen, and they both look
back our way—we’re
busted! They end their
conversation and the
flight attendant hands
us the boarding pass.
As we glance down, the
writing is in Polish?! Still
giggling, we get Google
Translator out and come
up with an amazing
forever-keepsake from
one of the nicest guys
in pickleball—“Love ya
Marcin!”
Another fond memory is the first year
Margaritaville became a major sponsor.
Jennifer was one of several pros interviewed
on SiriusXM Margaritaville Radio about the US
Open. Naturally, she talked it up and became
friends with the DJ, JD Spradlin, who would be
working the US Open. So every year we create
special memories with JD when Margaritaville
is there (now at both the US Open and
Nationals). Remember, it’s the journey and the
fun—fins up! •
Jennifer Lucore and Alex
Hamner started playing
pickleball in 2010, and have
competed in tournaments
across the USA (and
internationally). Between them,
they have 26 National Titles,
including winning gold in the
Women’s Open Doubles at
Nationals for four consecutive
years (2011–2014). For more
pickleball fun see Jennifer’s
blog at www.allpickleball.com.
MAY/JUNE 2019 |
MAGAZINE
23