Pickleball fever sweeps across Canton

(Front row, l-r) Ralph Bevivino, Irma Berardi, Sheila Gallagher; (back row, l-r) Gail and Pete Marshalka, Tom Dean, Chuck Glenn, Dick Millington and Deb Caggiano

When Canton resident Gail Marshalka retired five years ago, she picked up a pickleball racket and started playing one of the fastest growing sports in the United States. She had seen people playing the sport and thought it looked interesting. Two years later, when her husband, Pete, retired, she encouraged him to follow her lead.

“She thought I should give it a try,” Pete said.

Pickleball was created one afternoon in the summer of 1965 when three parents in Washington state, Joel Pritchard, Bill Bell and Barney McCallum, decided to put together a new summer activity for their families. They found some ping-pong paddles and a plastic Whiffle ball and created a game that was played with an outdoor net on a court that is smaller than a tennis court and incorporated some of the rules of badminton. Over time, the three friends refined the rules and the equipment. In 1972, a corporation was set up to protect the creation of pickleball.

The Marshalkas played the sport at locations in neighboring towns and then heard that the staff at the Canton Senior Center wanted to offer pickleball in Canton. They spoke with Diane Tynan, the director of the Council on Aging, who began to look for an appropriate venue in Canton. The Pappas Rehabilitation Hospital offered the use of two indoor courts to be taped for the smaller court size needed for pickleball.

“We dealt with Ray Jackman and Marianne Pope,” Tynan said. “They were wonderful to work with us to make this happen.”

Tynan ordered two nets and other equipment and worked with program coordinator Marylou Sullivan to set up the program.

The Marshalkas held two sessions in the summer of 2017 to teach the basics of the sport to anyone who was interested. From there, interest grew, with the first indoor game of pickleball held at Pappas a few months later in September. The game was so popular that players asked about finding an outdoor court. Tynan spoke with Canton High School Athletic Director Danny Erickson and later the Canton School Department. The request was subsequently approved, and in May of this year, one of the tennis courts at CHS was painted with the lines needed for pickleball.

There is now a master list of dozens of adults who have given the game a try through the senior center. “People really get into it,” Tynan said.

The process of getting a court is flexible. “We have a spring, winter and fall drop-in at Pappas,” Marshalka said. “And a summer drop-in at the high school. Whoever decides to show up, shows up. It’s pretty loose.”

The Friday pickleball games at CHS start at 8:30 a.m. The game is usually played until one of the teams has scored 11 points and is ahead of their opponent by two points. Marshalka said, however, that if several people are hoping to play, a game may end after nine points have been scored.

Marshalka explained that the pickleball racket is larger than a ping pong racket, the smaller Whiffle ball doesn’t travel as far as a tennis ball, and the court is about 44 feet long, as opposed to the longer tennis court. Pickleball is played in a doubles format.

“You can get a great workout in, it’s not very taxing, it’s a great way to meet people and it’s fun,” Marshalka said.

Irma Bernardino is one of the volunteers who helps players with the sign-in process and the waiver form, and setting up the equipment.

Players have come from Stoughton, Sharon, Norwood, and other neighboring towns, in addition to Canton. Sullivan and Tynan said that as long as there is room on a court, the game is open to everyone.

Two pickleball tournaments have taken place and another is tentatively planned for October. Gail and Pete Marshalka will explain the rules at two introductory sessions on Tuesday, August 13, and Tuesday, August 20, from 8:30 to 10:00 a.m. at the tennis courts at Canton High School. “We have paddles and balls so they can try it out,” Sullivan said.

Those who are interested in attending one of the introductory sessions are asked to pre-register by calling 781-828-1323.

For more information on pickleball, go to www.usapa.org.

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Posted by Mary Ann Price on Aug 9 2019. Filed under Sports. Both comments and pings are currently closed.