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Meet The Players

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New USA Pickleball Board Member Joe Santoro

 Joe Santoro has been a USA Pickleball board member since February 2020. He first picked up the sport in 2015 playing at the Bonita Bay Club in Bonita Springs, Florida. In the winter he spends his time playing at Veterans Park in Naples, and June through November he enjoys playing at Foss Field in Wolfeboro, New Hampshire.

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George Kent

George Charles Kent, 97, is the patriarch of the Lake Oswego Pickleball Club. Born in Prague, Czechoslovakia, he moved to the...

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Mona Burnette

Eight years ago, Mona Burnett was riding her bicycle past the Sun City Grand’s pickleball courts in Surprise...

Jim & Yvonne overlooking beautiful Lake

Yvonne Hackenberg

In Yvonne Hackenberg’s house, pickleball is a multigenerational sport. From her 90-year-old mother, to her daughter...

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Mike Leeper

Mike Leeper discovered pickleball when he got his SilverSneakers at age 65. The fitness program built into the...

George Avery with Steve Sidwell West Reg

George Avery

Tustin, California, resident George Avery, a retired San Bernardino fire chief, was also a very committed tennis player for 30 years.

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Jill Petersen

To say pickleball is a sport that can be played and enjoyed at all ages is definitely true for Savannah pickler Jill Petersen.  

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J. "Gizmo" Hall

J “Gizmo” Hall has gone from putting out fires in the real world to being on fire in the world of pickleball. J “Gizmo”...

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Dorris Castaneda

As with most athletically inclined girls growing up prior to the enactment of Title IX in 1972, opportunities for Doris...

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