Pickleball battle

Even though I’d only had one cup of coffee and no breakfast, I quickly learned to stay out of the kitchen.

Not the kitchen found in homes, however; rather, the one on the court.

The pickleball court, to be exact.

My opponent — KTW photographer Dave Eagles — found himself in the kitchen during most of our pickleball game, played early Friday morning at the Boys and Girls Club on McArthur Island.

“Well, where’s the fridge?” Eagles asked, laughing as he picked himself up off the floor of the kitchen after not-so-athletically diving to return my shot.

The hit: A sweet dink shot, which is a soft, low hit from my end of the court that landed in Eagles’ kitchen.

Not bad for a newbie pickle.

“So that makes us baby cukes,” Eagles suggested with eyebrows raised and farcical grin.

Always a wag — even when he loses.

The kitchen is a seven-foot wide no-volley zone on either side of the centreline on the court the same size used in badminton.

Pickleball is a cross between tennis and table tennis with a bit of badminton mixed in.

From the sidelines, it looks a little strange, with teams of two on each side of the low net wielding wooden or fibreglass paddles, slightly larger than those used in table tennis,

Before each service, the server must call out the score of the game and their sever number, either one or two.

But playing the game with a strange name is an invigorating experience.

It’s not overly physically demanding, but definitely provides a full cardio workout, while keeping a number of muscles toned.

My glutes can attest to that.

Pickleball dates back to 1965 on Bainbridge Island, Wash., when co-inventors and U.S. congressmen Joel Pritchard, William Bill Bell and Barney McCallum wanted a sport the entire family could play.

Word on the court is the quirky name came from a family dog named Pickles, who would chase after balls and hide them in the bushes. Pickles’ ball was later shortened to pickleball as families played the game, first in their backyards and later as a paddle-court sport with formalized rules.

In some areas of the U.S., pickleball has “caught fire like crazy,” according to Earl Thompson, a pickleball ambassador from the USA Pickleball Association.

The 71-year-old retiree was turned on to the game a couple years ago while he and his wife were in Arizona, escaping a chilly Kamloops winter.

A popular sport for seniors, Thompson has played pickleball in the seniors’ Olympics and wants to see the sport catch on north of the border.

“I was asked to take the sport to my home city and I was delighted to do so because I just fell in love with it,” he said.

Thompson has partnered with the City of Kamloops, which has purchased all the equipment and arranged free playing time at the Kamloops Boys and Girls Club every Monday and Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 10:15 a.m.

Starting in January, there will be a fee to play and a new playing schedule, which Thompson hopes will include a weekend time slot.

“It’s been a real world of difference to have the city involved,” he said.

“It’s a family sport, it’s an easy sport, especially for seniors . . . It’s a wonderful way to have fun because it’s not work.”

And, I have to admit, his enthusiasm for the sport was infectious and I wholeheartedly enjoyed playing the game — not to mention rocking Eagles’ pickled world.

At the end of the game, our quartet met at the net and tapped the butts of our paddles together, a gesture to say thanks for the good game.

Although he put forth a valiant effort, I managed a 10-4 win over the KTW shutterbug and was given the title “big dill.”

Eagles, however, now totes the less-masculine moniker “baby Gherkin.”