♪♪ energetic music ♪♪ »ANNOUNCER: Last time on "I Heart Pickleball" we met
the Paranto's in the Pacific Northwest. This month we travel to Georgia
and hear how Tom and Ann Earley were able to grow a pickleball community in the heart of
the south. ♪♪ upbeat music ♪♪
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»"I Heart Pickleball" is powered by Hyland's Leg Cramps. Proud supporter of
pickleball players everywhere. »ANN: We are Tom
and Ann Earley, and we've been playing pickleball about 12 years.
»TOM: And we've been married 13 years. »ANN: A few of them happily. No, I'm kidding.
»TOM: We met at a party. »ANN: We went with friends,
and so we just wandered over to the dessert table. And
some voice behind me said, "What looks good to you?"
»TOM: That was my voice. »ANN: So we proceeded to go off and chat
for a couple of hours. Tom said, "Well, I can take you home." And I said,
"I don't dance with the man that didn't bring me." So I took
his card and flipped it over and wrote my number. And I said, "And I don't call
men either." »TOM: I did call. »ANN: The next day. »TOM: She responded.
»ANN: The next day. »TOM: And a year later, we were
married. I was a veterinarian that specialized in surgery
of small animals. »ANN: For 16 years I was a harpsichordist.
Primarily with chamber orchestras in the states and
with the Munich Chamber Orchestra, Smithsonian Chamber Players. »TOM: We live in north
Georgia with our two standard poodles, Bocce
and Clyde. »ANN: When we first decided to retire, we
truly wanted to have a wonderful life.
»TOM: Travel. »ANN: I wanted to live the life of luxury. And then Bocce and
Clyde said, "Wait. You can't go without us."
So, they went with us to buy a motor home. And picked out the one that they chose
with the leather couches where they could recline while we're driving.
And that's been our life. »TOM: We were at an RV
park in Casa Grande, AZ. We had
gone there to play tennis. We heard all this click-clack, click-
clack, and people laughing and seemingly having a good time.
And they gave us some paddles and told us a little bit about the game,
and we started playing. And literally put our tennis rackets down
at that time and have never taken them up again. When we
came home, we wanted to continue to play pickleball. We had
two tennis courts that we thought we would be able to use.
But we didn't have anybody to play. So,
we started calling some of our friends that had played tennis with us.
»BUZZ: My name is Buzz Ahrens, and I'm chairman of the Cherokee County Board of Commissioners here in
Cherokee County, GA. I began at the Earley's when they started
their pickleball group. »JON: Tom Earley taught me to play pickleball.
Tom's a great teacher. Being a doctor, he's very analytical. So, he
breaks everything down into a process. »TOM: And then Ann
put a notice in the local paper. »ANN: And so I just put
in if you want to learn to play pickleball, call this number. And it
just exploded. »JUDI: So I was looking for something to do, and I happened to see
just the smallest advertisement for pickleball. Well, I called
their number and started playing. And I only miss when it's raining.
»CARLOS: I heard about this place through one of the players at the YMCA where I played at.
He saw that I started getting better and better, and he was like, "You need to come try and play over here."
»BUZZ: It's a classic case of what I call one-to-one marketing. You get a handful of folks who get
together and start something. One by one you would be in another circumstance and
you'd meet somebody and say, "Hey, I just played this really neat game called
pickleball." And they'd say, "What?" Another week someone else would show up, another week someone else would show up.
And then it gets to the point where you've got some critical mass. If you've got 30 folks
playing 4 times a week, you've really got something. »TOM: A lot of people would
just say, "Go to the Earley's house."
And I guess we finally decided it needed an official name.
Well, we called it the North Georgia Pickleball Club. »JUDI: Not only do
we play pickleball together, but our entire group are very fond
of each other. We have a camaraderie because we're all great
friends. We enjoy many things together and it's because of Ann
and Tom. »TOM: Initially we played over the tennis courts and we chalked
the lines every time we wanted to play. And then we used
painter's tape. And then the tape would get worn off. And probably about
3 or 4 years ago, we were starting to get
maybe 20 players to come out to finally getting to the point where we had
to make a decision of needing more courts.
And 3 years ago we decided then we would convert the tennis
courts into permanent pickleball courts.
»ANN: Actually, what really happened. I got a little tired of hearing
Tom whine about taping and re-taping the lines
for pickleball, and I finally relented and said,
"Okay!" And when you give Tom the reins
for something like that, he tends to go wild. And he
made probably the nicest pickleball courts that you'll
find in the southeast. »CATHY: I drive 30
to 35 minutes to come up here to the Earley farm to play pickleball
because it's a great facility and I learn so much
from the people up here playing. »ANN: What Tom really likes about
the courts here is that when we have a 9 o'clock start time
for pickleball, all he has to do is get up at 5 minutes 'til
9 and brush his teeth, and he can go play.
»TOM: Well, that is a tremendous advantage. Let's face it. »BILL: My name is Bill Hess, and
I am the district ambassador for Georgia. The big thing that
Tom and Ann have done to help pickleball is to allow people to come
here, improve their skills, and then they take it back to their home
communities. »TOM: And they were looking for somebody to teach them the proper
techniques and strategy. And so probably
we have done a dozen at least pickleball clinics
over the years to these various communities.
»JON: Tom and Ann, as well as being ambassadors for the sport, I call them missionaries as well.
I have been with them on several occasions to other subdivisions where we've had groups of
50 to 100 people who get to see what pickleball is. And they get to learn
a little bit about it, hear about it, and they also get to play. And that, in turn,
has spurned growth from those many communities
in the hundreds and the thousands of people in the state of Georgia. »ANN: Tom's an excellent teacher,
and everyone enjoys coming back because he will
play with everyone and help them and give them tips.
»TOM: I think Ann is the ultimate ambassador of anything
she feels strongly about. There's not a person that comes here
that feels like they're a stranger once they talk to Ann.
And she's really the main reason people feel welcome
here. »ANN: I want them to feel like they're at home. And so,
except for the dogs on the courts, it's reasonably
a relaxing place to be. We started
tournaments just to have fun and
a social event. »TOM: And it seemed almost natural that at some point
we would have a tournament with all the players
here. And that was the very beginning with about 8 players. And I think it went to
16 players the next year. This year
it went to 120. They're getting a chance to play with and against
other players of their same ability in a round robin fashion.
»BILL: You have 10 people of equal ability playing on 2 courts.
You play 9 games, and you play each game with a different partner.
We get some very high level players that come here because they really enjoy
being able to play with a different partner every game.
»BUZZ: There's no question, if you have a 2-day tournament, you get 120 players. And that folks are coming from 3 different states -
I believe they had Florida, Alabama, Tennessee. There's that economic impact
that a tournament like this will bring. But what I hope it does, it gets
other folks motivated to also pick up and help grow.
»TOM: Everything is free. There have been no
charges for playing. No charges for clinics. »ANN: We just
enjoy having pickleball people here. »TOM: And I think,
in part, when we started a number of years ago, people were always
giving us tips and teaching us and
giving clinics. We were just trying to share. And that's the way we
were taught. And so I think that has a lot to do with how we feel about sharing
as well. »BILL: Tom and Ann are just wonderful people. They just open
their homes and their hearts to everybody. They're just warm. They care
about pickleball, and they care about other people. »CATHY: They are probably some of the most
generous people that I've met in a long, long time. They're great teachers.
They're wonderful at everything they do up here for the community
and for all of us that play pickleball. They're just good people. Very
good people. »JUDI: They're gracious, caring, and give us all
this wonderful environment to play ball in.
»TOM: We feel fortunate that we had two tennis courts here that we were able
to convert to pickleball courts. Now, not everybody has that opportunity.
But everybody in their own way can grow pickleball
in their community either on their driveway, on the school yard,
or in subdivisions with tennis courts that aren't being used.
Because if you build these courts, you will find that many people in your community
will come and play. »ANN: Pickleball certainly has
given us a lot of friends in the community. A lot of friends
we would not have discovered any other way. So, we've
been blessed with good people, and we certainly have gotten more than
we've given. »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. America's #1 over-the-counter leg cramp medicine.
For more information, go to Hylands.com.
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