Pickleball has become a popular amenity for Tellico Village residents over the years, but it’s becoming even more popular for military veterans.
Tellico Village Pickleball Club member Janet Winslow developed an idea in May for creating a veterans-only pickleball group after watching the National Veterans Golden Age Games in Biloxi, Miss.
“I thought that was such a special event,” Winslow said. “It was held by 31 different pickleball players from the Gulf Coast down in Mississippi. During the games, there were 120 wheelchair and ambulatory veterans, and they learned the game of pickleball. In addition to that, more than 800 other veterans that were 55 and older competed in the games.”
After watching the games, Winslow decided to act upon her idea and proposed it to the Tellico Village Pickleball Club board.
“When I watched all those veterans come together and play pickleball, it moved me to finally address the board to put this group on the schedule,” Winslow said.
The group officially started the first Saturday of October and has already seen growth in numbers.
“This is just our third Saturday, and I’ve been pleased so far with how many have shown up,” Winslow said. “The first time we had 12 players, and it’s growing. I now I have a list of military veterans here in Tellico Village.”
Winslow’s husband, John, served 40 years in the United States Coast Guard and has played pickleball since the club’s inception.
“Well, obviously, pickleball has become pretty big around here,” John Winslow said. “We happen to have a house right next to the recreation center where pickleball started. We started playing in the gym, then moved out to the tennis courts. Now, in the last few years, we’ve gotten the eight pickleball courts here and that just shows the growth of the sport. Personally, I really love this sport because it’s something anyone can play, no matter the age.”
The veterans-only group enjoys the competitive aspect, but it allows them to bond with fellow service men and women.
“Well, for two hours every weekend, these veterans can forget about all the bad things they may have going on that day and just have fun out here on the courts,” Janet Winslow said. “Really, it’s amazing because they play with so much heart and communicate so well with one another, even if they don’t know each other before playing. From what I’ve seen, there’s just a lot of laughter going on, and it’s from their hearts.”
“A lot of them, over the years, have slowed down,” John Winslow added. “This gives them a great opportunity to get up and be active. More than that, though, it gives us the chance to really get to know one another. It gives us the chance to meet other fellow veterans that we didn’t even know lived here. We get to really talk to each other and we get to find out, ‘Hey, we were in Vietnam together’ or something like that. You’ll find that veterans don’t talk about their service very often. You have to pull it out of them because most of them just want to forget it or just have good memories about the better parts. This group allows us to just communicate on a level that most people wouldn’t understand and I think it’s a great, great thing.”
The group plays 3-5 p.m. Saturdays at the Wellness Center. Veterans interested in joining the group can email Janet Winslow at janetwinslow@charter.net.
