PickleballENGLAND
EXTENDING RELATIONSHIPS ACROSS EUROPE
Today I feel a sense of pride in Frank Arico , my co-founding director of PickleballEngland ( pbE ). Frank has just been elected president of the board of the recently formed European Pickleball Federation ( EPF ). Together with Pierre Obozinski ( Pickleball France ) and Marc Declercq ( Pickleball Spain ), he was a driving force behind the creation of the federation . The federation is made up of 25 European countries ( see map ) and the board is seven-strong , representing seven of the countries .
They say if you want something done , ask someone who is busy … this could not be truer of Frank , who likes to say that there are 26 hours in a day ! Given everything that Frank is involved in , he must have found a way to reach those additional hours . Frank doesn ’ t usually let me talk about him ; he likes to keep a low profile and lets his work do the talking . I told him that his new role means that he has no choice — the pickleball world needs to meet the co-founder of PickleballEngland and the president of the European Pickleball Federation .
Originally from South Africa , Frank moved to the U . K . in 2005 after living in Chicago for four years . He is a retired entrepreneur with a finance , accounting , and IT background .
Frank has had a lifelong involvement in sport , both as a player and administrator , achieving national colors for clay pigeon shooting in 1985 for South Africa and in 2016 for England Veterans .
By Karen Mitchell
DIRECTOR , PICKLEBALL ENGLAND
In 2008 , Frank sold his business interests in the international software company he owned , and his wife , Jackie , was probably thinking they were starting a new era of retirement . Over time , however , he started a second career as an administrator , serving at club , national and international level . At one time Frank was a director of the National Skeet Shooting Association in the U . S ., the world governing body . Frank ’ s knowledge of governance is built on solid foundations , as is his volunteering .
Frank Arico and his partner , Mary State , won bronze in the 70 + event at last year ’ s English OPEN . Margaret and Peter Hunter , also pictured , won the gold .
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