Pickleball Magazine 2-2 Courtesy of Pickleball Central | Page 22

FROM THE USAPA
Pickleball Takes Center Stage at the
Charlotte Health & Fitness Expo
BY DICK AND DESIRÉ OSMAN, USAPA AMBASSADORS, CHARLOTTE, NC
The USAPA
Grant Program
BY USAPA GRANT DIRECTOR RAY
PEREYRA
U
I
n January, the 5th Annual
Charlotte Health & Fitness Expo,
sponsored by healthcare provider
Novant Health, drew more than
3,100 folks who take an interest in
their personal health and fitness.
Pickleball was showcased in the
center of the expo on two temporary
courts that were laid out on the floor
of The Park Expo and Conference
Center in Charlotte.
Many of those attendees stopped
to watch pickleball being played
by advanced local players on a
Demonstration Court. Other local
players served as coaches to explain
the game to about 200 people who
(after signing a liability waiver)
stepped onto the Try-Out Court to
whack a pickleball around for the
first time. Many took handouts
explaining “What is Pickleball?”
and requested more information on
clinics and places to play.
Local DJ Maney from KISS
95.1 FM radio joined us on the
Demonstration Court to challenge
our demo players and visitors. He
20
was a quick study and rapidly picked
up the game.
Our team of coaches and players
included USAPA Ambassadors Peter
Popovich, Virginia Popovich, Sara
Nolan, Laura Patterson, Sandra
Stewart, Sharon MacKenzie, Frank
Kinder and ourselves. We were joined
by volunteers Mark Rankin, Bill
Cooper, June Lohner, Tom Luddy,
Dave Brown, Patty Matthews, Carlos
Garcia, Terry Frye, Greg Harabin,
Larry Blythe, TJ Druckenbrod,
Patrick Norris and Carol Chun.
These stalwarts played and
coached continuously for the
nine hours of the expo and were
flexible, welcoming, helpful and
enthusiastic—all in all, great
representatives for the sport of
pickleball and our community of
pickleballers in the Charlotte area.
Pickleball continues to grow
explosively in the greater Charlotte
area with over 37 places to play
currently, and six clinics for
beginners were scheduled in the six
weeks following the expo. •
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S A PA i s p l e a s e d t o
announce that Colby-
Sawyer College has now added
pickleball to its intramural
program. Colby–Sawyer College
is a private, comprehensive
baccalaureate college situated
on a 200-acre campus in New
London, in the Lake Sunapee
region of New Hampshire,
founded as a co-educational
academy in 1837 (colby-
s a w y e r. e d u ) . P l e a s e c o n t a c t
the USAPA at www.usapa.org/
usapa -grant-program-rules
for more information on our
community grant programs.
Enjoy a brief video at youtu.be/
xNKG1qQeWK4 in celebration
of the new program.