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sportsmans
Ambassadors from all over the
country gather annually for the
USAPA Ambassador Retreat.
Using the analytic
of 15,000:1 ratio, the USAPA is diligent in assessing
the needs of respective communities to establish and
then maintain a reasonable amount of coverage for
its ambassadors. “At this time the door is swinging our
way and the applicants and interest are coming to us
regularly from all across the nation,” added Fontana.
One of the early pioneers in the establishment of
the USAPA was Earl Hill. A member of the Pickleball
Hall of Fame, Hill was instrumental in the start-up of
the organization. He also knew that to be successful,
an outreach program was needed to grow the sport:
ambassadors in communities throughout the country.
“I had it in my mind that our ambassadors would do
a lot more than hand out applications to prospective
players,” recalls Hill, an original board member of the
USAPA. “They would be expected to start pickleball in
their local communities. Someone mentioned that we
should
have one for each state. I told them no, we should have
as many as wanted to be an ambassador. And the state/
regional structure would come later.”
After about four years, the USAPA had over 200
Ambassadors, each working independently, but
reporting directly to Hill for direction. He quickly
realized he couldn’t handle all the attention and looked
no further than to what the United States Tennis
Association was doing. It established regions throughout
the United States and Hill knew instantly this was the way
to go for pickleball: “By then I knew many of the leaders
in the group, so I mapped out how we could also set
them up. I contacted a person to be a regional director
and eventually our regional structure came to be.”
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FEBRUARY/MARCH 2020 |
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