Free pickleball clinic draws 60 to Kalaheo

KALAHEO — Mark Renneson of Third Shot Sports said the only way to learn to play pickleball is by playing.

There was ample time for playing as more than 60 people braved the threatening weather Sunday to get tips from Renneson, a pro player from Canada, during a free clinic hosted by the county’s Department of Parks and Recreation at the Kalaheo Neighborhood Center.

“He was a pro tennis player in Canada,” said Jack Hodges, the USA Pickleball Association district ambassador. “He learned how to play the game and incorporated it into his own style. Now he does this full-time.”

Melanie Okamoto of the Department of Parks and Recreation said Renneson is wrapping up a Hawaii tour, Kauai being the last stop before he leaves.

“Dean Fujikawa first learned about him after attending a clinic in Kansas City,” Okamoto said. “Following that clinic where Dean told Mark he needs to come to Kauai, one of the assistants called and set up the tour.”

During the Hawaii tour, Renneson visited Honolulu, Maui and Kona before wrapping up on Kauai.

“There is so much enthusiasm over here,” Renneson said. “We had a strong showing in Honolulu, and the energy was great on Maui. Kauai is lucky to have good people like Melanie and Jack on the group to keep the program energized and moving ahead.”

Okamoto said of the 60-plus people attending Sunday’s event, more than 40 were newbies, or people new to the sport.

“We are so lucky that people from all over came out for the clinic,” Okamoto said. “This in spite of the weather. But the clinic was really good because people have an opportunity to work with Mark, one-on-one if necessary, to get their questions and concerns answered.”

Two of the newbies even earned prizes of pickleball equipment to enhance the experience.

Okamoto said this is a fast-growing sport on the island. April 1 marks the third anniversary since the Department of Parks and Recreation embraced the sport and helped develop playing sites around the island.

Three years ago, a call from Hodges sent a TGI reporter to the Koloa tennis courts at Anne S. Knudsen Parl (Koloa ball park), where the solitary pickleball player was quickly surrounded by visitors who engaged in pick-up games in the rain. Since that time, pickleball groups have formed around the island, and the Department of Parks and Recreation helps coordinate a pickleball tournament which draw players from around the state and the Mainland to the Kalaheo Neighborhood Center.

Joe Pritchard, a congressman from Washington, is credited as being the father of pickleball after he and businessman Bill Bell tried to find badminton equipment to play on a court in Pritchard’s yard.

That was in 1965, and after improvising ping pong paddles and a perforated plastic ball to play, the first permanent pickleball court was built in the backyard of Bob O’Brian, Pritchard’s friend and neighbor.