PickleballSOUTH AFRICA
PPICKLEBALL-FLAVORED PEANUT BUTTER ?
Pickleball has begun spreading smoothly around South Africa .
Our friend Sandra is a black woman who manages a plant nursery in the capital city , Pretoria . She was walking 30 minutes from
her house and came upon two groups of pickleball players who had chalked out a few courts at a large tennis facility . Sandra asked if she could join and got a few eyerolls , but one of the players handed her a paddle . She confidently walked over to the baseline , called out 0-0-2 , and served diagonally to the other side .
Everyone was stunned — you could hear a pin drop . “ How do you know how to play pickleball ?” they asked . She told them she learned in the
Sandra in Memel , learning on the first dedicated pickleball court in Africa .
Free State . They said , “ Wow , that ’ s where Steven Ablondi introduced pickleball in South Africa .” And they asked Sandra if she could take them there to play with the players in Memel .
Tony and his wife bought a house last year , next to his sister , about three hours from us in our same Free State province and plans to spend six months each year in South Africa . He said he was an avid pickleball player in the U . K . and came armed with four paddles and a net . The town has many recreational facilities , all in various states of ruin ; he couldn ’ t find a place to play or anyone to play with .
Tony eventually found a playable surface in an old clubhouse . It was hidden under five years of rubbish . Since nobody seemed to care about the place , he cleared it out and made a court .
Still with nobody to play with , he spent weeks hitting a ball against the wall . Finally , a local teenager asked if he could have a go at the “ tennis .” He returned every day and soon
by STEVEN ABLONDI & CINDY BURNS
WWW . MEMEL . GLOBAL
Tony ’ s friend , Takatso , watches him leap for a backhand while visiting Memel .
others came . Within 10 days he was swamped .
Tony hadn ’ t planned for this , but it was great to have the kids show up , so he just carried on . Some days he had 10 players ; other days 40 . His club in the U . K . sent eight new paddles and another net .
The clubhouse had a decent surface , but it flooded every time it rained . The roof was too low , and it contained asbestos .
The players then chalked pickleball courts outside on the tennis court . The kids kept coming . You never know where the ball will bounce on such old courts , but it is better than not playing .
Tony had been researching methods for fixing cracks on courts , trying to learn how to do it , and came across a video that shows how our community resurfaced an old court . Visit https :// vimeo . com / showcase / 9841067 ( password : Vermont ).
He said , “ It would be a shame if everything is allowed to fizzle out . I ’ ll be returning to the U . K . soon and have volunteers to keep the sessions going . I also believe we haven ’ t scratched the surface yet — we haven ’ t even tried to get adults playing .” •
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