Submitted by Floyd Zablotny, Ambassador for Carroll County, MD

 

It all began three years ago when Ambassador Floyd Zablotny moved to Carroll County from Florida.  Floyd had been introduced to pickleball in Florida - it was love at first sight - and he brought that enthusiasm for the sport with him to his new home in Maryland.

We formed the first group over two years ago at Carroll Vista, a Del Webb adult community.  As a first step, we advertised in the community newsletter.  Twenty residents come in for an organizational meeting.

We started play in September with four paddles and two dozen balls, which Floyd had purchased and donated to the club.  We played on the existing two outdoor tennis courts, where we would chalk in the No Volley Zone lines.  The following spring, we had the lines added in yellow paint.

Since we started, a total of 40 residents have participated in free instruction that Floyd provided.

The community builder, Pulte Co. sponsored our first tournament in July 2009.

At left are the Pulte Tournament Players at Carroll Vista, July 2009

Two residents of the nearby town of Westminster, Sandra and Brian Bowman, noticed Floyd's name on the USAPA web site and contacted him about playing pickleball.  Floyd gave them a series of lessons and they began regular play at Carroll Vista.  They became big fans of the game.

They related their pleasant experience to Paul Garver, the manager at the Westminster Senior Center.  He contacted Floyd to begin a program there.  We taped the floor of the social hall and purchased an Ultranet system, paddles and balls with the proceeds from a donation drive by the Carroll Vista Club plus a teaching grant from the USAPA.

The room was not large enough to accommodate a regulation court, so we negotiated with Carroll County Parks and Recreation to use their gym.  We formed a committee to include Sandra Bowman, Bob Eney and Floyd for the purpose of outlining the court. We bought white gym tape and laid out two regulation courts.  The Carroll Vista Club was now able to play the sport during the winter months along with the Westminster Senior Center Group. We had press coverage from the Carroll County Times which further boosted interest.

Sandra and Brian Bowman and Floyd have grown the number of trained players to sixty in number as of this month.  Sandra, with Brian's help, is now managing the activities at the Recreation Center where pickleball is played two days per week and still growing.

Bob Eney, an alumnus of the Westminster Senior Center Club, expressed an interest in forming a club at the newly opened South County Senior Center.  He formed a committee with Sandra Bowman and Linda Zile to tape the basketball court with the white gym tape purchased for the Westminster Center.  We did not have to apply for a teaching grant this time, since the Recreation Center had ample funds to purchase a net system, paddles and balls.  Bob Eney is managing the program at South County and arranged for the Baltimore Sun Newspaper to print a three page article http://www.explorecarroll.com/news/4382/pickle-juiced/.  This again boosted interest in the sport.  Now they have thirty members who have had free lessons from Bob. They are also playing two days per week.

Thus, from a seed donation of paddles and balls, and then a teaching grant from the USAPA, plus an assist from the Carroll Vista Club, Carroll County Maryland now has three thriving pickleball groups with one hundred thirty trained players.  All this accomplished in a little over two years.  And we're still growing!

 

Committee members receiving Maryland Governor's Volunteer Service Certificate for community involvement:

 

From the left: Floyd Zablotny, Sandra Bowman, Linda Zile, and Bob Eney,  Not present: Brian Bowman

 

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