Before ascending to battalion chief, Crowley was a captain
and, after 17 years with the department, she’d seen it all.
“It was amazing for the firefighters to participate—to see
so much attention being paid to their physical fitness,” she
says. “Flexibility, endurance and strength are the main goals
in a firefighter, which pickleball provides. To have an activity
they want participate in, it makes a better firefighter for the
community.”
“Flexibility, endurance
and strength are
the main goals in a
firefighter, which
pickleball provides.”
With her station as part of a larger municipal complex,
Crowley says pickleball courts eventually popped up across
the street in the recreation facility, eliminating the need to
tape down courts in the firehouse.
“They still play in the large facility across the street from
one of our firehouses, mostly in the evenings, but also when
they standby,” she explains. ”Spending time with each
other is a huge part of building the bonds you need in this
field. Everything is a team building skill with us, and a large
percentage of the department took up pickleball because it’s
an inexpensive sport they can participate in with just a paddle.
It’s easy to access, and it’s good for them.”
Retired firefighter Jim Barnes of Idaho, and a co-founder of
Selkirk Sport, discovered pickleball outside of the station and
tried to introduce it to his department. And while it never got
off the ground during his tenure there, he says the sport is
ideal for emergency responders in general and
firefighters in particular.
“Firefighters have the opportunity
because they have the time [to play],”
Barnes explains. “And a lot of
departments are getting away from
basketball because of injuries, so
they wanted us to participate in
low-impact sports like pickleball.
Pickleball is perfect in that it
provides camaraderie, and firemen
are highly competitive in general.
Anytime you have an opportunity
for teamwork, competitiveness and
physical fitness—which is one of the
biggest things you need—you go for it.
There are guys who don’t do the physical
fitness like they should, so pickleball is a good opportunity
to get guys out there who wouldn’t normally be out there. It’s
also very strategic—all of these attributes are things we enjoy,
so it’s a natural fit.”
Timothy Connor retired as a commander for a police
department in Farmington Hills, MI, before moving to
Tennessee. He didn’t discover pickleball until after his
retirement in 2010, but wishes he’d known about it earlier
in his career—not just for all the fun it’s brought him, but
because it can help officers in ways most people don’t think
about.
“I do some instructing, and you can approach it as going to
battle, a gunfight of sorts—the kind of prep, focus, mindset—
the tactics transfer from firearms to pickleball patterns fairly
easily,” he says. “From a physical point of view, pickleball
can enhance agility, balance, movement, your ability to
maintain movement laterally, forward and backward, hand-
eye coordination, perceiving and tracking moving targets and
aiming. These physical things transfer from the court into the
officer’s street life.”
What’s more, Connor adds that the mental aspect of the game
is extremely beneficial to police work in that it sharpens focus,
concentration, perception and reaction time. Playing in teams
provides even more benefits because you have the opportunity
to work on communication skills, which also mirrors police
situations.
“The communication is especially important in a tactical
situation. Those short, quick, concise, loud, one- or two-word
transmissions all occur on the street as well,” he says. “When
you’re working with a partner, it’s pure teamwork—assessing
a fluid, tactical, changing situation on the fly as the ball’s
moving back and forth. Things change from offensive to
defensive and back. All those transfer from the street to the
court and vice versa.”
While police officers typically don’t have the kind of downtime
firefighters do, Connor notes that municipalities with forward-
thinking, progressive management will usually work with
local facilities to give officers a chance to work out during the
workday.
“We used to work out for an hour and do aerobics or lift
weights, but you could just as easily meet the guys somewhere
in a parks and rec facility,” he says. “The only caveat is you’re
subject to recall, so you can’t get too sweaty or dirty only to
have the big one hit and be back on duty in 60 seconds.”
For all the first responders across the country who have never
tried it, pickleball can definitely up your game off the
court. Plus, the ability to have fun and blow off some
steam during a shift can help a first responder’s
performance when it matters most—while
saving lives.
Crowley says one of the most enjoyable
aspects of setting up pickleball for the
first time in a first responder facility is
watching how everyone underestimates
the sport and the skills necessary to
master it.
“You go out there thinking you have a lot
of sports and athletics in your background.
You think it’s a small court—this will be
easy,” she says. “And it challenges you more
than you realize.” •
JULY/AUGUST 2019 |
MAGAZINE
51