By Don Eskins
It’s amazing how popular “Pickleball” has become nationwide and here in the Cavern City. My guess would be it’s because it’s a competitive sport that fits all age groups, especially seniors. Multi-media exposure, no doubt, has also had a big hand in its popularity.
Since the addition of some state-of-the-art pickleball courts in the beach park area, local residents have a great spot and opportunity to enjoy the sport.
While it’s hard to say just when Carlsbad became so engrossed in the game, it should be safe to say that pickleball may very well have made its first emergence in the Cavern City as early as 2012 due to the efforts of Sue Brazeal.
But selling the game to the community wasn’t an easy task by any means for the retired Carlsbad educator and two-time New Mexico Pickleball Senior Olympic state champion.
While attempting to recruit participants to play the sport, she often got responses like, “Pickle what?”
“Well, it isn’t tennis, nor is it ping pong or badminton either. Actually, it’s a little bit of all three. It’s pickleball,” explained Brazeal, “and it’s a game that is growing nationwide, especially among senior citizens.
“Pickleball is played on a court the size of a badminton court, and it’s played with paddles and a wiffle ball,” continued Brazeal. “It resembles tennis, but the small court cuts down on the amount of area participants must cover, and because the game is played with a wiffle ball and paddles, it’s much slower. It’s very suitable for indoors, which makes it a year-round sport, and it’s ideal for seniors.”
But Brazeal did recruit, and she did it rather well. However, at that time, there were no pickleball courts in the Cavern City. So, the former Carlsbad educator and the group she had assembled, mostly seniors, set up camp at the Carlsbad Recreational Center.
In an interview in 2012 on her efforts to introduce pickleball to the community, Brazeal summed up her progress and vision for pickleball in Carlsbad.
“We started out with just a few women, but within a few short weeks, we had recruited some men to play also,” she said. “We soon had two nets up, and we continued to grow.”
“Residents should keep in mind that Pickleball is a great way to stay in shape, compete, and socialize,” commented Brazeal. “For seniors who may be more competitive, the New Mexico Senior Olympics holds a ‘Pickleball’ state championship every year. It’s unbelievable how many people show up for the tournament.
“But pickleball isn’t just for seniors. They have divisions for all ages. I think it would be great for Carlsbad to be able to send a few teams to the state tournament to represent our community,” she said. “But right now, we’re just hoping to get more local residents out to participate.”
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