ANNOUNCER: Last time on "I Heart Pickleball" we met Rocky
from Portland, Maine. This month we travel west to beautiful north San Diego
county to hear the story of National doubles champions and friends,
Jennifer Lucore and Alex Hamner. ♪♪ upbeat music ♪♪
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»JEN: Hi, I am Jennifer Lucore, and I grew up in Southern California. I'm an empty-nester.
I'm a marketing consultant. I have my own business. Currently I have my blog
at allpickleball.com. And there I just pretty much show, you know, tips and
travels and people have questions. And I really have lots of fun doing that.
»ALEX: Well, I'm Alex Hamner. I am married. I've been married for 23 years.
I am a CPA. I do a little bit more probably business management and accounting.
And right now, I play pickleball with Jen. »JEN: Lucky girl!
♪♪ Lively music ♪♪ »ALEX: Jen and I met about 11/12 years ago.
We were at the tennis club. Jen joined where I already belonged. And the tennis pro hit with
her and said, "Hey, you should call this girl Alex." »JEN: And we hadn't played tennis and we were both getting back into it.
And from there we kind of did weekly tennis leagues. »ALEX: We just had a good time. We hit for probably an hour
and a half. We laughed and found out we went to high school near each other.
Our kids were only a few years apart in age. We lived near each other.
And really, we just kind of clicked. And... »JEN: I laughed at your jokes.
You laughed at mine. It was pretty effortless.
»BOB: Well, we had gone to the USTA Nationals in Tucson to watch
Jen play and that's when we really met Alex because
that was her partner. And we just had a great time. And, of course, mentioned pickleball.
»JEN: "What the heck is this pickleball?" I said, "I don't know." The family was going to be gone,
my husband working. So I thought, "I'm going to go visit Mom and Dad for a few days,
and go check out the Nationals." So, 2009 I actually went to Nationals,
did not play, and totally cheered my parents on. And there I totally
saw more of the big picture. And I think I got a little bit, like a little bit
of the bug. But not totally. »ALEX: So eventually she dragged me and a couple
of our other tennis girlfriends out to the court and said, "We're going to play." Her mom and dad were there and
they taught us how. »JEN: Well, that was kind of it. And then everyone was like, "Okay, let's get back to tennis."
And then I called her up and I said, "Hey, I think we should do this pickleball thing together. And there's
this tournament coming up and we should play." »BEVERLY: They didn't have a lot of background for
the first Nationals they attended. But because we had been playing
it together they had the basic gist of everything. »ALEX: And, yeah, we
went to Nationals. It was super fun, exhausting, had no idea what was going on.
»JEN: And she's like, "Jen, I totally love this sport." And I think from
then on, we're, like, we have to play pickleball together because we have so much fun.
»ALEX: When's the next tournament? »BEVERLY: And I think once you're on that court
as a pickleball player, you're hooked. And they were. »ALEX: And after
2011 we still played tennis but that started taking a little bit of
a back seat. We got to where we'd be playing tennis and we'd look at each other and say,
"I'd rather be playing pickleball." "Yeah, me too."
»BEVERLY: I don't know, there's just something about their personalities. Maybe they share the common thing
that they've been mothers, they've been career gals, and at the same time,
now that their kids are all grown, they've been able to concentrate a little bit on the things
they enjoy doing. »BOB: That's a very hard thing to do is to find
a partner that you really enjoy, plus their skill level
is good or better than your skill level. So it's -
it was a great find for both of them. »JEN: So after our first time at Nationals
in 2010 we got fourth. And we thought that was really great.
But, you know, we don't like to lose. So we thought, "Let's go next year and see if
we can do better." So we did. We went and we did win the gold in
2011. And then in 2012, you know, again, Nationals rolls
around. We go and we win the doubles again. And we thought, "Wow.
That's really great. You know, we repeated." So then 2013 rolled around
and we thought, "Oh my gosh, wouldn't this really be something?" »JEN: And, again, we're up for the challenge.
And each year it's more of a challenge because there's more players.
But you just don't know. So, you know, you practice when you can and
you show up on game day and see what happens.
We did it again. »ALEX: We did it again!
♪♪ inspirational music ♪♪ »DENNIS: Alex and Jennifer
have won the open division up in Nationals three years in a row now.
So I think their game speaks for itself. »SHERRY: They're the best. The best on the court. The best
I've ever seen. I will watch their YouTube videos over and over
just to see how they do it. »JULIE: They are the top, the top players
in the country. And they've been that for three years. And at this point, they are my rival.
I aspire to be as good as they are someday
and to actually defeat them. »BOB: Like, my daughter is very quick, very quick
reactions. Lots of power up in the middle of the body.
And Alex has great hands, great touch to the ball.
Very smart player. So you put those two together and that's
a great team. »JEN: I think that does come with years of experience because a lot of times
players ask, "How do you know? You guys are always moving together
and stuff." And that is through time,
through experience and playing a lot together, is that you know
where they're going. And then it just becomes so natural.
»ALEX: I would say what Jen brings to the court that I admire, she
will fight to get every ball back. I don't know, she gets her paddle on everything.
Being her partner, I love that. I have that trust in her. I know if the ball is going to her,
it's going to go back over, so I'm all good. I just have to wait for it to come to me.
»JEN: She has the best overhead. A really fast, hard overhead.
I would say on her strength is that she would get that overhead
and sometimes leave her calling card. [ laughter ]
»BEVERLY: Alex is a CPA. So she's into numbers.
Jen can never keep track of the score. She never remembers who's one and
who's two. So her comment, or her suggestion, is if you have a
CPA partner, then you're good to go. »JEN: Well, I would say everyone
is different as to what works for them. But, for us,
we've got to be having fun. And we do. We have fun together. We click as a
team. We click as friends. It's so easy and comfortable
to walk on the court with her. »JEN: And it is amazing in pickleball how fast this
game goes. It's mind boggling how fast momentum shifts.
For your team, you have that fun but you're having that awareness of
what's going on and what's not working. And someone always rises to the occassion.
And that is team work. »DENNIS: They are a terrific team.
They're also terrific individual players. And they're also both very, very
terrific people. »SHERRY: Most gracious girls. When I was brand new, welcomed
me on the court. Played together with me. They're wonderful. Amazing.
»JULIE: And they are our competitors but they are always willing to teach and
always willing to come out and drill with us and to help us improve our games.
»BEVERLY: Their sportsmanship on the court, their demeanor, just everything that
they do out there, I'm always so proud of them. They're tough
competitors on the court. They give everything they have, but
they're also just great athletes. It's just fun to watch them. »ALEX: She's easy to
get along with. She's easy to talk to. She's easy to play
pickleball with. Not so easy to play against. You know, she just has my back.
»JEN: We have the partnership on the court. We have the friend partnership.
And we go through lots together and chat together and she is my best friend.
So - and that's what I think you are. You're awesome. I love you man! »ALEX: Love ya!
[ laughter ] »ANNOUNCER: No matter where
you are, pickleball can bring us together to celebrate community, learn new things,
and have fun. If you know someone we should feature on a future episode, we would love
to hear from you. All you have to do is send us an email and tell us your idea.
This episode of "I Heart Pickleball" has been brought to you by Hyland's Leg Cramps.
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