Good morning Foothills Pickleball Players!  I hope everyone is doing well and has had a tremendous start to the New Year!

Yesterday I had a Zoom Meeting with Kelly Gaines, Executive Director for the United States Tennis Association of NC and the NC Tennis Foundation.

Hani Nassar, President of the Greater Hickory Tennis Association, set up the meeting so there could be some discussion as to the growth of both sports in NC, the concerns of both tennis players and pickleball players, how representatives of both sports can work together to make sure both sports continue to grow, and how Hani and I worked so well together to help both sports thrive in our area.

It was a very productive meeting and a very enlightening one for me.

It seems that in most areas of NC, representatives from the pickleball community and the tennis community don't work so well together - at times having disagreements and arguments so extreme that representatives walk out of meetings that were set up so that both sports could work together and grow in a specific area.  I was pretty shocked when I heard that things like this are occurring throughout the state.

2 of the bigger concerns from the tennis communities are:
1) pickleball lines being drawn, taped, painted on tennis courts by pickleball players who don't have enough courts in their area or don't have pickleball only courts in their area; when this is done, not only does it deface the tennis courts, tennis league matches can't be held until the lines are removed (a rule put in many many years ago)
2) pickleball players acting like they're entitled to free funding from their city/county for anything they want in regards to pickleball without having to put any effort into helping out

While hearing these concerns all I could do was smile and think about how incredibly fortunate we are in our area:
1) We have 23 dedicated outdoor pickleball courts in our county so we don't have to worry about putting lines on the tennis courts in order to have places to play.  I credit Hani Nassar for his vision several years ago in seeing the quick rise of pickleball in our area and creating a plan in which we don't have tennis players and pickleball players trying to utilize the same courts.  And of course Mark Seaman and the City of Hickory for doing all that they could to help make Hani's vision a reality.
2) As was shown by the GoFundMe account that was created (thank you Mike), and the $6000 that was raised, our pickleball family is willing to help with the funding to help create pickleball facilities.  The purchase of the windscreens for Westmont by Bob Fincher and Southeast Retirement Planners also shows that we have incredible businesses in the area that are willing to help further the growth of pickleball in our area.

Ms. Gaines was so impressed by how well the tennis community and the pickleball community worked together in our area, that she would like for Hani and I to work with other communities throughout the state to show them how representatives from each sport can work together (instead of viewing each other as the enemy) to help grow both sports!  I'm excited at the thought of telling representatives of both sports throughout the state how amazing our area is at supporting both tennis and pickleball without a conflict from either side.  Hopefully Hani and I can demonstrate to them how representatives from both sports work together (instead of fighting each other) to help both sports thrive.

I think sometimes our pickleball community (I'm including myself here) forgets how truly fortunate we are and how far we've come over the past 3 years.  From 4 pickleball only courts in the county to now 23 courts in a very short time frame.  The City of Hickory converting 3 tennis courts to be converted to 9 pickleball courts, without a big resistance from the tennis community.  As well as so many other pickleball related amenities we've received over the last several years.  As I discovered yesterday, the growth of facilities for our sport, and the ability for both tennis and pickleball to exist peacefully together in a community, doesn't occur throughout the state like it does in our community!  I feel blessed to be a pickleball player in our area!

I hope everyone is doing well and getting to play a lot of pickleball!