Free Pickleball Clinic Friday at YMCA
A pick up game of 'Pickleball' at the Mahaska County YMCA (photo submitted)
Oskaloosa, April 18, 2012 – Local interest in pickleball is growing. The YMCA began offering pickleball time in the gym schedule early in 2012 and is seeing growing interest in the sport. Sports Director Ryan Harkema said, “Pickleball is a sport that is easy for beginners to learn, but also one that can develop into a fast-paced, competitive matchup for experienced players.” If you are interested in learning about pickleball, join Steve Stone at the Mahaska County YMCA this Friday, April 20, at 1:00 p.m. Stone is the Pickleball Commissioner for the Iowa Games Pickleball Tournament and Pickleball’s Central Iowa Ambassador. He has achieved numerous awards even though he only started playing the game a mere 18 months ago (November 2010). A Table tennis aficionado, playing since High School for the most part, and competitively since 2003, Steve has captured numerous awards, trophies and accolades in that game over the years, to include 2 consecutive Gold Medals from the United States Games held in Colorado Springs, Co. Steve credits his tennis and racquetball play, and rates his paddle tennis play as a close second, behind his table tennis skills, as contributing factors to the skills he has developed in the game of pickleball today.
“I had never even heard of pickleball until receiving an email late 2010 that the sport would be added to the Iowa Senior Games in 2011. Like most I simply stopped out to see what the fuss was all about, googled it online, and VIOLA, I was hooked! I ordered a couple of paddles and some pickleballs and started looking for places and people to play.”
Shortly after realizing how socially entertaining the game is, Steve applied to become an Ambassador of the sport, to help and support its growth in and around the State of Iowa and launched a website to spread the news: www.pickleballiowa.com. Steve has been involved with (either as a participant, referee, or director) over 20 tournaments since joining the game. Steve’s tournament play has rewarded him with numerous Gold Medals in Iowa, Missouri, Minnesota, Illinois and Kansas.
Call the YMCA today for more information about the clinic and the YMCA at 641.673.8411.
