DestinationFAY

IT MAY SOUND LIKE A BIT OF A GENERALIZATION to say that everyone who tries to play pickleball loves it. But, really, everyone loves it. Perhaps you haven't yet heard about pickleball, but you will. And the game known as the fastest-growing in the U.S. has found a secure foothold in Fayetteville. "The first time I played," says Jayshawn Campbell, "I was addicted." Campbell, a Westover High School graduate who played football and basketball and then ran track at Campbell University, is a 28-year-old lithe and lean staff sergeant in the Air Force stationed at Fort Sumter in South Carolina. Like many people, he figured pickleball was for the senior citizen set when his father Jason encouraged him to play a few years ago. That's one of the unique attributes of pickleball. Stop by any of the Fayetteville courts, and you'll likely see people of all ages, shapes and sizes, demographics and ethnicities. And they'll all be chatting, chuckling and rotating in and out of games. Chatting and chuckling, but also overhead slamming or deftly angling the ball out of each other's reach every chance they get. "It's something you can learn and get really good at fast," said retired veterinarian John Lauby. "And even the best players are really nice people." According to the USA Pickleball Association, the sport's national governing body, the creation of the game is most often credited to three men in 1965. The three had returned home to Bainbridge Island, outside of Seattle, after a round of golf. Seeing their families sitting around, they ventured out to the Pickleball is a Hit BY KIM HA ST Y Some say the game is a combination of tennis, badminton and ping pong, but it also has elements of racquetball. Those who have played racquet sports seem to have the easiest time picking up pickleball, but anyone can catch on easily enough to enjoy themselves. backyard onto an old badminton court. Lowering the height of the net, they began hitting a plastic ball with ping pong paddles. The three men came up with rules for the game and purportedly named it after one of the family dogs, Pickles, who relentlessly chased after the balls. Some say the game is a combination of tennis, badminton and ping pong, but it also has elements of racquetball. Those who have played racquet sports seem to have the easiest time picking up pickleball, but anyone can catch on easily enough to enjoy themselves. Jayshawn Campbell was addicted from the first time he played at Myers Park Recreation Center And sometimes that leads to leaving other games behind. Lauby, who is 78, discovered pickleball two years ago while on a tennis excursion to Palmetto Dunes on Hilton Head Island, South Carolina. After a three- hour morning tennis clinic in the 100-degree July heat, he didn't think he could endure another clinic scheduled that afternoon. A friend offered him some advice: "They're playing that pickle- something game over there and they're laughing and having fun. Why don't you join them?" So Lauby did. "And I haven't picked up a tennis racquet since," he said. 27 DestinationFAY 2021-2022

• Cover