Marine Park seniors crazy for pickleball!
BY ROSE ADAMS
He’s in a real pickle!
A Mill Basin elder has no
more free time after introducing
the sport of pickleball
to southern Brooklyn’s senior
community, which has taken
to his weekly tournaments in
Marine Park like a cucumber
to brine, and forced the trend
setter to abandon his other
passions.
“Now I can’t go to tap
dancing lessons because
I’m teaching pickleball!”
lamented 77-year-old Bob
Spieler.
Pickleball — which
crosses elements of tennis,
badminton, and pingpong —
took off in 2009, when senior
communities nationwide adopted
the sport, which benefi
ts from a small court,
light paddle, and doesn’t require
much running around.
Spieler learned the sport
while wintering in the famed
snowbird state of Florida,
where nothing moves real
estate like a good pickleball
court, he said.
“Every community in
Florida has pickleball, and
if they don’t they can’t sell a
house,” he claimed.
COURIER L 10 IFE, SEPT. 6-12, 2019
But Speiler was crushed to
discover that residents back
home in Mill Basin had never
heard of the sport, and that
Brooklyn houses only a handful
of indoor pickleball courts
spread across the borough.
Speiler worked with the
Marine Park Active Adults
and Senior Center to begin
hosting pickleball matches
every Friday morning at Marine
Park’s paddleball courts,
and it didn’t take long before
the list of competitors grew
long in the tooth, attendees
claimed.
“I have really taken to the
game,” said Michael Chaiet,
68, who began playing pickleball
at the Sunset Park Recreation
Center, and now partakes
in the Friday games at
Marine Park. “It’s not as demanding
as tennis, but has
all the action.”
Spieler and his growing
group of pickleball players
hope to raise funds to buy
more nets and to eventually
build a permanent outdoor
court in Marine Park. Currently,
participants have to
arrive early to draw the correct
pickleball markings
with chalk on the paddleball
courts.
“It takes a while to measure
and set up,” Chaiet
said. However, the organizers
have a lot of help setting
up and breaking down the
court — Chaiet and Spieler
claimed that the games drew
more than 40 players in their
fourth week.
And while Spieler’s tap
dancing shoes haven’t gotten
much wear since he brought
pickleball to the borough,
he could have guessed this
would happen, saying no senior
can resist a good game of
pickleball.
“It’s a lot of fun,” Spieler
said. “I haven’t met a senior
who hasn’t had a good time.”
STAYING FIT: Pickleball has become increasingly popular among older adults, who love the sport because of
its small court and easy-to-learn rules. Photo by Derrick Watterson
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