PLANETPickleball
Let Black South Africans Play Pickleball !
M
By STEVEN ABLONDI and CINDY BURNS
WWW . MEMEL . GLOBAL
Memel hosted a continent first : the International Recreational Pickleball Tournament , with players from four countries plus the only other majority black club in South Africa .
Thirty years after the democratic election of Nelson Mandela , 100 local black and white townspeople watched 18 black and six white players compete . This marked the single most racially inclusive crowd ever to congregate in the town of Memel .
The Memel Eagles , driving to the disco beat of “ Fly , Robin , Fly ,” then competed against a tennis club in Pretoria . The Eagles , with first members of family lineages ever to hold a paddle for a racket sport , won 9 of 14 matches . Posts showing their enthusiasm and pride that day went viral , and supportive black Africans donated online for costs . Another first !
Black players can play in S . A ., but opportunity is historically skewed . Country clubs in white areas have existing serviceable tennis courts requiring only inexpensive painted lines for people to easily try pickleball . To the contrary , areas where blacks live require either expensive new construction , or massive rehabilitation of Potemkin tennis courts abandoned for decades . Pickleball itself is inherently inclusive . Remedial measures must be taken to ensure fairness .
On Freedom Day , commemorating that famous Mandela election , the Eagles will “ fly ” to the former Bantustan of Qwa Qwa , giving up their holiday to volunteer their manual labor to provide a symbolic first pickleball court to their brothers and sisters in a disadvantaged pocket of several hundred thousand residents — who before that election , needed a pass to leave their homes .
We call it a Freedom Ride . A practical , symbolic step to erase injustices . For the love of pickleball , please donate and send messages of support to www . Memel . Global so that there are more Freedom Rides . •
For the love of camaraderie and making a difference . Every leaf honors a donor .
74 TO SUBSCRIBE , CALL 412.914.8294 OR GO TO PICKLEBALLMAGAZINE . COM