Pickleball Articles

Pickleball is a popular sport that builds community. Read some PICKLEBALL MAGAZINE articles by Steven Ablondi & Cindy Burns.

Memel: Birthplace of Pickelball in South Africa

The first dedicated pickleball court in Africa isn’t in Morocco or Egypt or Kenya. It wasn’t built at a club in Johannesburg, or on the playgrounds of Capetown. It wasn’t engineered or built by a professional company; it didn’t use cement trucks, nor feel the thump of mechanized machinery. There’s no lighting, no fencing. It didn’t cost much.

No, the first dedicated pickleball court in Africa was built in the tiny village of Memel, by a team of locals as a project to keep them healthy and employed during those first scary days of the pandemic. Read More…

Organic Growth: Step by Step

One of our pickleball buddies passed me a message recently. A tennis pro noticed we have an “inclusive” group of players, and that we are building another pickleball court. He admired our “freedom” and asked if he could bring players from his town (described as still having “too much apartheid,” with rules that often block black players from accessing tennis courts) to learn the game. Perhaps pickleball might be the answer? A demonstration day was immediately organized to teach them. Read More…