BETHEL — On a steamy Tuesday evening 16 people populate two tennis courts to play pickleball, the fastest growing sport in the United States.

They are at River View Resort on Mayville Road in Bethel where two tennis courts have been divided into four pickleball courts. On one side instructor Bob Switzer, is teaching eight beginners basic skills. They talk quietly in a circle then move onto the courts, standing close to the net lobbing balls back and forth.

Meanwhile on the adjacent court, four others are firing line drives at each other. They shout back and forth, too, but it’s friendly banter. It’s a full court, no holds barred, competition.  Heidi, “The Beast,” James of Newry, appears the fiercest, but takes time to muck it up for the camera, too. “Left handed Bob” and “4.0 Bob” lean against the fence waiting for their turn to sub in.

James said three years ago she was taking a walk on the Bethel Pathway when she saw people playing pickleball on the basketball courts. Later she was the only person at their beginner clinic.

These days about 40 Bethel area players of varying levels are showing up to play regularly. Western Mainers have finally caught the fever.

Heidi James of Newry and Steve Whitney of Bethel are teammates for pickleball at River View Resort on Mayville Road. Rose Lincoln/Bethel Citizen

The path to pickleball

Organized pickleball got started in Bethel around 2019. A few years later a mini-controversy arose when they tried to schedule space around basketball players at the Bethel Pathway basketball courts.

These days they use The Riverview where there is more space and the courts don’t puddle after it rains. They also use Gould Academy Field House courts October through March and Telstar’s indoor basketball courts with classes scheduled through MSAD 44 Adult Education. On Mondays they teach elementary aged children enrolled in Mahoosuc Kids Association at the Pathway courts, where they still sometimes play.

Dirk MacKnight, of Andover, one of the original organizers, does the group’s scheduling using the app, TeamReach.

On a Tuesday morning MacKnight was heading to Rumford to play indoor pickleball because it was raining in Bethel. McKnight said he’d play eight hours a day if he could. For 30 years he had played badminton in Bethel through SADD-44 Adult Education. But his group, he said, began aging out. “Badminton is a lot harder on your knees and shoulders,” he said.

Lesli Olson originally from Bethel now living in South Paris, had a similar path to the sport. Her family had owned a racquetball club for several years. Now she plays pickleball regularly with this group and with 12 others in her family.

Olson and her sister teach beginners, too,  “because if we don’t keep feeding this sport, the courts will go away and I don’t want that to happen to another sport…”

A group of 16 play pickleball at River View Resort on Mayville Road. Rose Lincoln/Bethel Citizen

Social

MacKnight who travels extensively finds welcoming pickleball games in other cities, just as people traveling to Bethel are welcome to join here.

MacKnight advocates for his sport, “75% of the people that play pickleball are under age 55. The fastest growing segment in this sport right now is aged 24 and under … you can have fun playing this at any level.”

Pickleball is called a racket or paddle sport. It’s similar to tennis. Two players (singles) or four players (doubles) use a smooth-faced paddle to hit a perforated, hollow plastic ball over a 34-inch-high net until one side is unable to return the ball or commits a rule infraction. It is inexpensive to play, with paddles priced at around $25.

The best part these players agree is that it’s easy to jump in and make friends. “I wouldn’t have known any of these people. It’s an amazing way at our age to meet people. You can show up and not know anyone. I go to Lewiston or Harrison … you don’t have to have your team lined up … you play with different people… we love it, we’re addicted,” said James

Olson said, “Some people play it as a party … you can play it at any level … you can goof off or be competitive.”