A
s the sport of pickleball continues to grow in popularity, so does the need for
clear and consistent rules of play that anyone from beginners to 5.0 players can
readily understand.
As the sport’s governing body, the USAPA recently selected one of the world’s finest
pickleball players to join its Rules Committee.
ELITE
PICKLEBALL
PLAYER
Joins
USAPA Rules
Committee
Simone Jardim is a name recognized around the globe and her expertise of the
game between the lines will undoubtedly be a tremendous asset to the organization.
“I will be a bridge between players and the USAPA Rules Committee members and
will assist them with any future changes to the rules of the sport,” said Jardim,
who has captured numerous awards and medals throughout her illustrious career
including 11 US Open and seven USAPA National gold medals.
Not everyone new to the sport of pickleball quickly adheres to the game’s rules and
distinctive qualities. “The fortunate part about pickleball is that the sport is very
easy to pick up and to understand. People show up at public parks and are taught
by people who were there before them,” said Jardim. “The unfortunate part is
sometimes it becomes like the game of telephone, where the first time the rule is
explained it might have been explained properly, but by the time it gets to the third
or fourth person it might have been completely misinterpreted. It’s the little details
that unless you have had some extensive explanation of the rules, you just don’t
know. Because I teach pickleball quite a bit, I hear some fascinating rules that don’t
exist, but again it’s the beauty of the sport.”
Jardim’s athletic skills first appeared, like so many other great pickleball players,
on the tennis courts. She moved to the USA from Brazil when she was 18 years old
to play college tennis at Auburn University. After a brief stop playing for the Tigers,
she transferred to Fresno State where she was a two-time All American in doubles.
After her collegiate career, she decided to stay on campus for a few years coaching
the Bulldogs. She then moved on to the Big Ten at Michigan State as head tennis
coach for the Spartans for eight years before moving down to Naples, Florida, where
she currently runs a pickleball academy.
“When I first started playing pickleball, I thought it was a great hobby and I tried
everything I could to get friends to play with me. It was very addicting and one of
my favorite things to do,” recalls Jardim. “After playing a couple of tournaments I
realized that this was more than a hobby and that the sport would pick up a lot of
former athletes and growth would be inevitable.”
As more and more people start picking up paddles and playing pickleball, the sport
is in great hands with players like Simone Jardim leading the way to make the game
easy to understand and more enjoyable to play.
SIMONE JARDIM
– USAPA Rules Committee
JULY/AUGUST 2019 |
MAGAZINE
35