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Five days a week in the morning you can usually find Jim Robbins playing pickleball in either Montgomery, Berks or Chester counties. At age 58 and a resident of Boyertown, Robbins took up the game about a year ago. Despite some physical limitations stemming from a spinal injury, he caught on quickly.
“When I found this sport last year, it is something I can do and I play as much as my body allows me to,” Robbins said. “It’s something you can do even if you have physical limitations — especially as you get older.”
Aside from being a player, he’s also a teacher who introduces new players to the ins and outs of the game that has blown up in popularity in recent years.
“They pick it up very quickly,” he said. “What takes a little bit of time is there are a lot of quirky rules to this game — more rules than there are in tennis — and scoring is a different thing.”
Affordable
Aside from free courts, entry into the sport is affordable for players who are new to it.
“For $30 to $40 you can get a paddle,” he said. “I bought paddles when I started that were very cheap and played with them until I advanced in play.”
Robbins has found that there are several other factors that make the game so approachable.
“It’s free to play on outside community courts, it’s easy to play, it’s low-impact on your body and it appeals to a wide range of people,” he said.
Social outlet
Beyond getting physical exercise, Robbins enjoys the social outlet he gets through playing pickleball.
“This popular sport forces you to play with others on any given court you go to play on,” he said. “As I started to play, I realized how social it is — I have met hundreds of really nice people I would have never met if it were not for pickleball.”
He finds the subject of politics usually doesn’t come into the equation.
“You go out to get some exercise, have fun and play pickleball,” he said. “It’s kind of like a safety zone from different personalities.”
Beyond the courts, Robbins and his friends have gone out to dinner and played golf.
“We have built lasting relationships that go off the courts,” he said. “When we are waiting to play pickleball, we will play chess.”
TeamReach
TeamReach, an app that enables Robbins to manage and communicate with other players, has been a valuable tool for creating ease in getting together with others to play.
“You go on the calendar and it will show you different times for different levels of play,” he said, adding the levels are beginner, intermediate and advanced. “You get to play people at your level which keeps it competitive and you know it will be at least four people.”
Robbins said there are over 500 people signed up on TeamReach in the Boyertown area alone. He discussed some perks to playing with others at your same level.
“That way you aren’t beating up on someone and you’re not getting beat up because you’re on the same level, so it’s competitive,” he said. “This game is as social as it is competitive.”
Greater demand for courts
What was once regarded as a game for the senior set, Robbins has witnessed a shift that includes his 13- and 18-year-old sons.
“Now teens and those in their twenties are playing,” he said. “My boys play all over now.”
The increased popularity of the game has led to a greater demand for courts.
“I can go into any court now and find someone playing,” he said. “People usually play in the mornings, evenings and weekends.”
Access to courts
Access to courts for playing time will be getting even easier due to some new court additions that are in the process of happening.
“Pickleball is so big in Boyertown that at Boyertown Park we are working hard with grants and donations with tournaments and raffle tickets to have three more courts built,” Robbins said, adding this would add to the three existing courts at the park located on Madison Avenue. “On the other side of Boyertown, at the Douglass Township Building in Berks, I just received word that they decided to have permanent courts put in out back instead of temporary ones in the spring of ’24.”
Robbins highly recommends the West Reading Pickleball courts for new players. They are open to the public daily from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m.
“There are ten courts there and they break them up into levels,” he said, adding there are almost 1,500 signed up on TeamReach from West Reading Pickleball. “It’s just absolutely beautiful there.”
Robbins said that in some neighborhoods where courts are located near homes, there have been complaints over the popping noise the ball makes when hit.
“We are lucky to have these courts put in where there are no houses around to complain about it as in parts of the nation,” he said. “The sound of that pickleball — it’s a constant ‘pop’ – is creating a lot of friction among those who aren’t players.”
Discovering the game
When not playing on various courts in the area, Robbins enjoys playing in tournaments with his doubles partner, Botao Ma of Limerick.
“We took gold at the last tournament at Dink City,” he said, referring to Dink City Pickleball in Wayne, Delaware County. “We won at the 3.5 level.”
Discovering the game has enhanced Robbin’s life in many positive ways.
“I haven’t had this much fun since I was a child,” he said.
The West Reading Pickleball Association, 915 Old Wyomissing Road, West Reading, is an organization of volunteers that facilitates programming for lessons, clinics, and tournaments at the pickleball courts in West Reading, Pennsylvania. The West Reading Pickleball Courts are open to the public daily from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. (unless otherwise noted). For more information, visit www.westreadingpickleball.com or follow them on Facebook @West Reading Pickleball
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