Serving Up Pickleball
Although Nikol and Steve Grubbs ’ 4,500-square-foot , industrial-style home in Rio Linda , California , isn ’ t scheduled to be finished until late this year , the Grubbs started playing on their new lakefront pickleball court in the spring of 2022 because they were too excited to wait .
The couple ’ s new home is just off the 18-acre Bell Acqua Lake , a private waterskiing facility minutes from downtown Sacramento . Steve , 51 , is an avid water skier , and the couple ’ s children — Jana , 24 , and Blaze , 21 — are high-level water skiers who compete nationally .
“ They all ski almost every day since the lake is in our backyard ,” Nikol says . “ Pickleball was a great addition for our family to break up all the hard [ skiing ] training .”
Their court surface was done by Acrytech and is 60 feet long and 40 feet wide . It ’ s surrounded by a wire guard panel fence and the total cost was $ 30,000 . There is no homeowners association and Nikol says the installation process went smoothly . She added that the toughest part was finding a fence that was modern and not a chain link .
Nikol and Steve own six franchises that are part of a drive-thru coffee chain . Already serving coffee to customers , now they ’ re serving up pickleball to family and friends . •
Matthew Schwartz spent 40 years in television news and won more than 200 awards , including four Emmys and four Edward R . Murrow awards for investigative reporting . His 2020 memoir , “ Confessions of an Investigative Reporter ,” was an Amazon # 1 bestseller . He writes a weekly blog for Hudef Sport and plays pickleball six days a week .
Nikol and Steve Grubbs ’ backyard court is on Bell Acqua Lake , minutes from downtown Sacramento , California .
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