Local Sports
Pickleball league spreading the sport
NEIL SIMPSON
Published: February 21, 2013
Pickleball is a game which is still foreign to most people in Highlands County, but there are several active seniors who are working hard to change that.Published: February 21, 2013
One of those is David Majick of Highlands Ridge, a high school teacher for 34 years who had students playing pickleball way back in the '70s. David was a head basketball coach for 25 years in five high schools in Ohio.
The Majicks bought in Highlands Ridge in 1999 and Majick has kept busy with golfing, fishing and playing pickleball.
He, along with Brian Gilles, introduced pickleball to Highlands Ridge in 2010. Highlands Ridge now has two good courts, but the 30 players would love to have more courts to play on.
Majick has worked to reintroduce the concept of crosstown rivalry that exists at the high school level by starting the South Central Florida Pickleball League.
The league has five teams: Highlands Ridge, Tanglewood, Riverbend (LaBelle), Lake Ashton (Lake Wales) and Del Webb (Haines City). Majick has purposely restricted the number of teams, as he knows how busy seniors are and wants to ensure that the teams are able to fulfill their playing commitments.
The league provides an avenue for players to move from the recreational to the competitive level by allowing stronger players to compete. Majick feels this has enabled all involved to improve their skills.
Although he started the league, Majick lavishes praise on Wayne Buck and Mark Telfer of Tanglewood, Larry Judd from Lake Ashton, Riverbend's Mickey Dorman and Bob Hoffman at Del Webb and mentions that, in his opinion, the best pure pickleballer in the league is Tanglewood's 75-year-old Jim Maynard.
Pickleball is a sport that is inclusive in terms of age and gender and provides superb physical activity for seniors.
To Majick, the future of pickleball is without limits. Presently, 150,000 people play pickleball, with 10,000 playing in The Villages alone. It was under the radar for years but has exploded in the past five to 10 years, as players who once played tennis are turning to pickleball as a great alternative.
Tanglewood will be holding the league shootout on Monday, starting at 10:30 a.m. The Heartland Games for Active Adults Pickleball Tournament will also be held at Tanglewood March 15 and 16.
To register, contact Lauren Redick of the South Florida State College Community Education Department at 784-7388, or by e-mail at CommunityEducation@southflorida.edu. The registration deadline is Friday.