Joint Ambassadors - New Tampa, Florida
JOINT AMBASSADORS – NEW TAMPA, FLORIDA
RICH AND DONNA DONALD
Rich and I reside in MeadowPoint II in Wesley Chapel, Florida and work as a Team as Joint Ambassadors for the New Tampa area.
Like most people in Florida, we are from somewhere else. We were both born in upstate New York and relocated with our jobs to Florida in 1994 and have made this sunny State our home.
Actually, we should probably say that we have made this our “home base”.
We both retired in May of 2006, and with our best travel companion “Beau” (our 12 year old Beagle) we packed up our RV and…………………travelled head on into the world of Pickleball.
It was November of 2006, while camping in Wauchula, Florida at the Thousand Trails, Peace River Preserve when a fellow camper, a gentleman from Tennessee, after several days of trying, finally convinced us to ‘take a look at the game’. We left for the courts at 8:00 AM; the weather was cold and windy. Surely no-one would be playing this morning!! Men and woman in sweats and jackets and gloves filled the courts. As you can imagine, we were welcomed into the group and immediately hooked on the game. When we arrived at the campground we did not know a sole. At the end of two weeks, we had only just started to establish friendships with people across the country that loved, or would learn to love, the game of pickleball.
During the summer of 2007 we travelled in our RV from Florida to Michigan and back, stopping in several States along the way. With paddles in hand we headed from park to park in search of Pickleball players. It was at another Thousand Trails park, this one in Clermont, Florida that we met Dorie Diedrich. We were both in the adult lodge for Line Dancing that morning and this lady had on this blue shirt with pickleball paddles on the back and big letters reading USAPA. She had already met my husband on the courts the day before and she learned quickly that we were hungry for information about the sport. As the USAPA Ambassador from Canon City, Co., she provided us with more information and hooked us up with USAPA.
Almost everywhere we stopped that summer we found people to play with. If they didn’t already know the game we taught them. We must have taught close to 100 people that summer. As we headed toward New York state, we got on to the USAPA Website and found Jim Plotnik – the Regional Ambassador in Schenectady New York.
We were able to hook up with his group in Scotia, NY, and just by chance, Louise Barrette and Marcel Lemieux, the Ambassadors from Quebec, Canada were also visiting the area. Don’t laugh at this picture – this is what serious players look like after a few hours of play! We all shared our adventures and ideas for promoting the game.
Keeping in touch with our traveling pickleball friends we headed north and we all met in St. Clair, Michigan at yet another Thousand Trails Preserve. We recruited several new players and our playing group grew to over 35 players in the span of two weeks. It was here that we first learned that pickleball is played in the State’s Sr. Olympics. Two of the players we met in St. Clair played, and medaled, in the Michigan Sr. Olympics. One of them was Jean Mulder. We met up with Jean again later in Florida and introduced her to USAPA. She is now a local Ambassador in Holland, Michigan. Back in Florida a new RV park in Bowling Green hopes to have three courts completed in early 2009 and we hope to work with the staff there to promote the game with training, clinics or demos as needed.
When our travels brought us back home to Wesley Chapel, we had no where to play! From the USAPA website we found the KingsPoint Pickleball League just south of us in Sun City Center. Louann Dubendorf, the contact for the league, promotes this game more than anyone we know in the area and she immediately welcomed us into the League. Both of us often traveled 45 minutes one way several times a week to play. This league has become our extended pickleball family. With members from the league, Rich began entering several of the Florida Sr. Olympics and has successfully medaled in both the men’s and mixed doubles. During the winter of 2008 we were very busy and we worked with Louann to promote the game, to solicit new players and to set up some friendly competitions. Her timely Pickleball Jamborees and Wing Dings were events that provided fun for everyone with mix and mingle play as well as friendly challenges between the League and our RV pickleball players. These events drew the attention of Tampa’s local news station. In February, Charlie Belcher, a reporter for Fox 13, featured the KingsPoint Pickleball League and the game of pickleball on Good Day Tampa Bay, in a live segment called “C
harlie's World”.
RICH AND DONNA DONALD
Rich and I reside in MeadowPoint II in Wesley Chapel, Florida and work as a Team as Joint Ambassadors for the New Tampa area.
Like most people in Florida, we are from somewhere else. We were both born in upstate New York and relocated with our jobs to Florida in 1994 and have made this sunny State our home.
Actually, we should probably say that we have made this our “home base”.
We both retired in May of 2006, and with our best travel companion “Beau” (our 12 year old Beagle) we packed up our RV and…………………travelled head on into the world of Pickleball.
It was November of 2006, while camping in Wauchula, Florida at the Thousand Trails, Peace River Preserve when a fellow camper, a gentleman from Tennessee, after several days of trying, finally convinced us to ‘take a look at the game’. We left for the courts at 8:00 AM; the weather was cold and windy. Surely no-one would be playing this morning!! Men and woman in sweats and jackets and gloves filled the courts. As you can imagine, we were welcomed into the group and immediately hooked on the game. When we arrived at the campground we did not know a sole. At the end of two weeks, we had only just started to establish friendships with people across the country that loved, or would learn to love, the game of pickleball.
During the summer of 2007 we travelled in our RV from Florida to Michigan and back, stopping in several States along the way. With paddles in hand we headed from park to park in search of Pickleball players. It was at another Thousand Trails park, this one in Clermont, Florida that we met Dorie Diedrich. We were both in the adult lodge for Line Dancing that morning and this lady had on this blue shirt with pickleball paddles on the back and big letters reading USAPA. She had already met my husband on the courts the day before and she learned quickly that we were hungry for information about the sport. As the USAPA Ambassador from Canon City, Co., she provided us with more information and hooked us up with USAPA.
Almost everywhere we stopped that summer we found people to play with. If they didn’t already know the game we taught them. We must have taught close to 100 people that summer. As we headed toward New York state, we got on to the USAPA Website and found Jim Plotnik – the Regional Ambassador in Schenectady New York.
We were able to hook up with his group in Scotia, NY, and just by chance, Louise Barrette and Marcel Lemieux, the Ambassadors from Quebec, Canada were also visiting the area. Don’t laugh at this picture – this is what serious players look like after a few hours of play! We all shared our adventures and ideas for promoting the game.
Keeping in touch with our traveling pickleball friends we headed north and we all met in St. Clair, Michigan at yet another Thousand Trails Preserve. We recruited several new players and our playing group grew to over 35 players in the span of two weeks. It was here that we first learned that pickleball is played in the State’s Sr. Olympics. Two of the players we met in St. Clair played, and medaled, in the Michigan Sr. Olympics. One of them was Jean Mulder. We met up with Jean again later in Florida and introduced her to USAPA. She is now a local Ambassador in Holland, Michigan. Back in Florida a new RV park in Bowling Green hopes to have three courts completed in early 2009 and we hope to work with the staff there to promote the game with training, clinics or demos as needed.
When our travels brought us back home to Wesley Chapel, we had no where to play! From the USAPA website we found the KingsPoint Pickleball League just south of us in Sun City Center. Louann Dubendorf, the contact for the league, promotes this game more than anyone we know in the area and she immediately welcomed us into the League. Both of us often traveled 45 minutes one way several times a week to play. This league has become our extended pickleball family. With members from the league, Rich began entering several of the Florida Sr. Olympics and has successfully medaled in both the men’s and mixed doubles. During the winter of 2008 we were very busy and we worked with Louann to promote the game, to solicit new players and to set up some friendly competitions. Her timely Pickleball Jamborees and Wing Dings were events that provided fun for everyone with mix and mingle play as well as friendly challenges between the League and our RV pickleball players. These events drew the attention of Tampa’s local news station. In February, Charlie Belcher, a reporter for Fox 13, featured the KingsPoint Pickleball League and the game of pickleball on Good Day Tampa Bay, in a live segment called “C
harlie's World”.
If you visit the Tampa area in Florida you need to hook up with the Kings Point Pickleball League. You can find Louann at http://www.gotpickleball.com/, along with pictures of the members, our tournament pictures and results, pictures of the group with Reporter, Charlie Belcher and other fun events.
MeadowPoint, in Wesley Chapel, is a large community, but we have not been as successful building a club at home as we have been on the road. The development has three tennis courts and we were able to get lines painted on one of them for our group to use. We taught 20 to 30 people how to play, and while the group of regular players is still very small, they try to play two or three times a week. One of the members of the group has bought paddles for his children as well, so we hope to gain some interest as a ‘family’ sport. Next on our agenda is to try and promote this game in our local schools, and our first opportunity is at the Bartles Middle School in Wesley Chapel where we will be providing information, and a demo of the game on April 17 to about 30 children.
Summer will probably find us on the road again to points north and west looking for new RV’ers ready to learn this great game, and we will also be visiting family. Our son and his family have heard all of our pickleball stories. They better get ready, because we’re bringing extra paddles for the whole family!!!
Summitted by:
MeadowPoint, in Wesley Chapel, is a large community, but we have not been as successful building a club at home as we have been on the road. The development has three tennis courts and we were able to get lines painted on one of them for our group to use. We taught 20 to 30 people how to play, and while the group of regular players is still very small, they try to play two or three times a week. One of the members of the group has bought paddles for his children as well, so we hope to gain some interest as a ‘family’ sport. Next on our agenda is to try and promote this game in our local schools, and our first opportunity is at the Bartles Middle School in Wesley Chapel where we will be providing information, and a demo of the game on April 17 to about 30 children.
Summer will probably find us on the road again to points north and west looking for new RV’ers ready to learn this great game, and we will also be visiting family. Our son and his family have heard all of our pickleball stories. They better get ready, because we’re bringing extra paddles for the whole family!!!
Summitted by:
Donna and Rich Donald
Ambassadors
Ambassadors
New Tampa, FL
JOINT_AMBASSADORS2.doc
posted by USAPA Atlantic South @ 11:41 AM
1 Comments
1 Comments:
Donna and Rich - If your travels happen to take you on I85 between Atlanta, Ga and Montgomery, Al, please contact me about playing some pickleball. I have the only pickleball court in Alabama in Opelika, Alabama - exit 57. I am listed under places to play on the USAPA website. My office number is 1-334-745-6295 Bob Huskey
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