On behalf of the Springfield Pickleball Club, we would like to extend a big thank to our sponsor InMotion!

 At InMotion Wellness Studio, they believe that stretching provides the essential foundation for overall wellness.  If you have never tried “assisted stretching” you need to give them a call!  Visit their website: Springfield | InMotion Wellness Studio    Located at 3631 S. 6^th Street, Springfield, IL.   217-703-1267.

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Dale Diamond doesn’t need pickleball to stay busy. At 84, he still works five days a week as a parts and service driver at Isringhausen Imports and remains an accomplished bowler. Weekends, however, are reserved for the game he fell in love with several years ago.

     “Most of my contemporaries play pickleball every morning, but I’m at work,” said Diamond, an Iowa native who owned and operated the last Shakey’s Pizza franchise in Springfield. “I’m a weekend warrior now, but I’ll probably play more at some point. I love it.”

Diamond is one of 600-plus dues-paying members of the Springfield Pickleball Club, which was founded in 2012 by Jack Handy, 73.

“When I started the club, we had 28 members,” Handy said. “It’s just grown so much.”

There are an estimated 5 million Americans who play pickleball, a sport that combines the aesthetics of tennis on a much smaller court, with a lightweight ball that requires a paddle to swat, not a fully strung racquet. 

Pickleball dates to 1965, when three Washington state fathers improvised a game for their bored children that combined ping-pong paddles, a lowered badminton net and some used whiffleballs. 

The sport barely gained any notice, however, until the COVID-19 pandemic. That’s when more pent-up people – especially older people who needed the exercise – discovered pickleball as a safe activity that got them out of the house. You didn’t need to be Serena Williams or Roger Federer to get good at the game, and it wasn’t as exhaustive as tennis. Thus, the pickleball boom was born.

“That’s when I really started playing, during COVID,” Diamond said. “I’d heard about it from a friend I played racquetball with for a long time. He kept telling me how much fun it was, but I thought it was an old man’s game. I wasn’t so old yet, but then COVID happened and my knees got a little worse and then I gave it a try. And the first thing I remember thinking was how much good exercise I was getting. I didn’t think you moved around as much as you really do.”

The stereotype that pickleball is a sport for old, retired people is shattered on a daily basis, Handy says. He regularly teaches the game to kids under 18, and more people in their 20s and 30s are active in the league. 

In Chatham, there are now 16 outside courts for pickleball players. At Iles Park in Springfield, a similar number of courts are available, and more are in the works, Handy said. Sherman Village Park has eight outdoor courts under construction. 

“It’s not rocket science, it’s just a fun game that older people can play and more and more younger people are coming to realize is a game that doesn’t require all the rigors of tennis,” Handy said. “Anybody who plays a game of pickleball, despite any preconceived notions they might have had, comes away feeling that it was a fun experience. That’s been my experience, anyway.”

So says Jan Gardner, the secretary of the SPL. At 83, she plays most every day and says she spends a good portion of her days signing up new players.

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Here's a couple of real nice evening shots taken of the newly resurfaced Iles Park located in Springfield Illinois, with the State Capitol looming in the distance.  

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Want to join the club?  The active membership is now up to 536!

Just click on the "JOIN SPC" tab above, ↑  Or click here:  Application

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Membership dues help provide much needed funds to help maintain the outdoor public pickleball courts in Springfield for all to enjoy. The Club has already pledged $10,000 this year to share costs with the Springfield Park District for the badly needed repair work at Iles Park.

Membership also provides discounts for Club-sponsored tournaments, admission to certain Club-sponsored social events and rental of pickleball training equipment at a nominal cost.

If you haven't paid your dues yet for 2026 or want to join for the first time, enrollment is very easy through the Club's website...click here:  Application

Alternatively, personal checks may be sent ($25.00 for Sangamon County residents, $10 non-residents) to the Springfield Pickleball Club at PO Box 9051, Springfield, Illinois, 62791.

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This summer's Pickleball for Beginners program has ended. However, for the next two Wednesdays (Sept. 2nd and 9th), we will be encouraging this summer's beginner participants to still come to Iles Park starting at 5:00 and we will help you find games on the courts. There will be no instructors, but we will have paddles and balls for you to use. And this gives you the option of playing against higher quality opponents so that you can see where your game level is.

We would like to express our thanks to those Springfield Pickleball Club members who helped provide instruction throughout the 17 weeks of the program. (Actually, 12 weeks since 5 of the Wednesdays were rainouts.)

SPC members providing instruction included:

Barbie Armstrong, Jan Gardner, Ted Campbell, Jack Handy, Roslyn Brookens, Joe Bavetta, Tina Centola, Jin Meng, Coleen Hill, Josh Morton, Heather Voigt, Nancy Schrenk, Kim Moore, Mary Curtis, Sally Petrone, Dan Petrone, Beth Gebhards, Mark Gebhards, John Gatlin, Steve Cook, Patti Kaylor, and Andrea Ostermier

(I apologize if I left anyone out.)

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