Community Courts

Pickleball. It’s the sport with the funny name that has become one of America’s most popular exercise trends. It’s also the sport that DENISE FOAT took up and then decided the game could do more than help people get fit. It could also be a way to support area organizations and residents.

Consequently, she founded the Diverse Dimensions Pickleball Club and gave the organization two missions: to be welcoming to everyone and to help the community.

“DDPC (Diverse Dimensions Pickleball Club) is supporting the culture already embedded in pickleball, its inclusivity,” Foat says. “What’s biggest for me, and what sets us apart from businesses and other clubs, is that we invest all our proceeds into our community. It’s our way of giving back.”

Pickleball is a blend of tennis, badminton, and ping pong. Though low-impact, players get an outstanding cardio workout. The game also helps players improve skills such as eye-hand coordination; forward, backward, and lateral movement; plyometrics; and reaction time, according to LAMAINE WILLIAMS, a club member and fitness instructor. But the best part of pickleball is that people get all these benefits while having so much fun, he adds.

To make DDPC as accessible as possible, Foat made the club a loosely structured organization that is easy to join and belong to. Membership is free, as are the club’s weekly drill sessions. Members find others to play with through the club’s chat room, and they play at free pickleball courts throughout Wilmington, such as at the MLK Community Center, Arrowhead Park, and Greenfield Lake’s pickleball courts.

Foat wants to raise money for the club’s philanthropy by charging for special events, and the first one is already on the books. DDPC is planning a pickleball clinic that will have a participation fee, and Foat says that proceeds will go to the MLK Community Center.

Since DDPC is just over a year old, Foat hasn’t yet solidified all its philanthropic goals or procedures. However, she and other DDPC members see multiple ways in which the club – and pickleball – can enrich the community. To refine the club’s philanthropic efforts, Foat wants to reach out to the Boys & Girls Clubs of Southeastern North Carolina and other local organizations to see how DDPC can help with securing pickleball equipment or if there are other ways in which the club can assist them.

Club member TAMIKA MILLER, who teaches software services, also foresees a time when DDPC will raise enough funds to build pickleball courts in different communities.

“If we put courts in communities where people don’t have transportation, the people who want to learn and play will have that opportunity,” she says.”

Another DDPC member, JANET TUCKER, hopes DDPC can bring pickleball to area schools.

“DDPC’s investment in the community is not just monetary,” the school social worker says. “We’d like to support the Martin Luther King recreation center and go into some of the elementary schools like Snipes Academy of Art & Design and the Freeman School of Engineering and find out how we can help them. We can look at nontraditional ways to go in and do after-school programs. Children can learn the skills to play pickleball and be able to get some exercise as well. We can offer them something different.”

While many join DDPC because they believe in its goal of giving back, the club’s emphasis on a welcoming, diverse culture is just as important to them. Already, DDPC is a place where pickleball players can find others who help them feel at home. The club’s membership includes women and men of different backgrounds, and they range in age from teenagers to seniors. Members include beginners as well as intermediate and advanced players.

In fact, even the most intimidated feel welcomed by DDPC members, according to Miller.

“I’m very shy,” she says. “But the regulars don’t mind you being a beginner. They take it easy on you, and they are working on their game. You find your crew.”

The friendships formed through DDPC extend beyond the pickleball court, and members find themselves socializing with people who are outside their usual crowd. Going out for a drink, a walk, or a girls’ night out with fellow players solidifies relationships begun on the pickleball court.

While DDPC is just getting off the ground, its members say the club has the potential to make a real difference in multiple ways.

“DDPC members are supporting the community,” Williams says. “Denise is not only looking to give financially, she really wants pickleball to grow in the area. She wants to give fitness to the community.”

To view more of photographer Terah Hoobler’s work, go to terahhoobler.com.

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