The Timber Pines Community Association located in Spring Hill was recently presented with the Pickleball Facility of the Year award. Pickleball, possibly the fastest growing mainstream sport in America, is even causing professional tennis to look at fresh ways to serve its baseline audience, according to an article in racketsportsworld.com.
Pickleball is yet to rank in the top ten sports, but the game that is similar to tennis but doesn’t require a full-size tennis court and is not so hard on the body is rapidly gaining traction.To that end, the Timber Pines community is one up on the local competition according to Welch Tennis, the Timber Pines racket sports contractor, and the American Sports Builders Association whose representatives recognized Timber Pines for their commitment to the sport.
The award ceremony press release gave credit to the joint effort of Timber Pines Community Association, the Timber Pines Pickleball Club and Welch Tennis. The cooperation, planning, and camaraderie between these groups was second to none in making this all possible. Timber Pines now has the premier pickleball facility of any community for miles around. Congratulations to everyone involved.
As of yet Pickleball may not be as politicized as table tennis in the 1970s when a friendly exchange between Chinese and American players led to an exchange of players and even a visit to China by President Nixon in what became known as Ping Pong Diplomacy, but the sport that some call table-tennis on steroids has likely surpassed table-tennis in the sheer number of active players in the USA. As for traditional tennis, that may take a while but Wimbledon might want to check the rearview mirror.
