Pickleball, the fastest-growing sport, is attracting a large number of older adults, particularly in Florida. The Florida Senior Games highlight this trend, with hundreds of players competing.
Pickleball player Alice Edington, 56, returns the ball to her opponents during a doubles match at the Florida Senior Games. Pickleball is the fastest-growing sport and it's also popular with older athletes.WESLEY CHAPEL, Fla. — At the Wiregrass Ranch Sports Campus on a recent Tuesday morning, dozens of pickleball players gathered around tournament director Aaron Del Mar.
Dressed in a neon green shirt, with a walkie-talkie microphone clipped to his chest, Del Mar bellowed out instructions, before dispatching the players across two dozen indoor courts. 'We're going to be running a round-robin system today,'he told the group.'You may be playing against teams that may be younger or older than you. If you don't want to play them, you don't have to.' The players competing here are all over the age of 50. Some had come with their adult children cheering them on in the stands. Some wore colorful shirts that matched their teammates. And all were vying for a spot in the National Senior Games in 2025.Zack Wittman for NPRMany states across the country host senior games, which include all types of sports like archery, basketball and mountain biking. But here in Florida, pickleball is the crown jewel. Nick Gandy, sports information manager for the Florida Senior Games, says nearly 600 players registered to compete, including some who traveled from outside of Florida.'It's like they're going back to their younger days when they did this with their friends,' said Gandy, who's been involved with the Florida Senior Games for 25 years.'But it's a more mature, adult group of people just trying to stay active, and stay healthy, and stay involved in a sport that they love, and they meet other people that inspire the
PICKLEBALL SENIOR GAMES FLORIDA SPORTS TREND ACTIVE LIFESTYLE
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