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"A doubles game is perfectly suited for seniors," he explains. "You learn how to move your hands fast and you have got to have good hand-eye coor- dination to get good. "I've found pickleball to be a very enjoyable way to get exercise but more than anything I enjoy the social aspect," he adds. "Pickleball players are very friendly; they have a compet- itive side but it doesn't seem to be dominating." George Silvas of Novato would like- ly agree with him on all counts. Ten years ago, Silvas worked for a local golf company and hit the links almost every day, until the day his wife asked to play pickleball, a game she saw him teach. "She hit one ball over the net and brightened up like a Christmas tree," he recalls. "I knew, from then on, we were playing pickleball and we've traveled the world playing the game." Since then, Silvas has been instru- mental in creating new pickleball ven- ues for enthusiastic players through- out Marin County from Mill Valley to Novato and welcoming new players to the game every year. These days, Silvas, an official pick- leball ambassador of USA Pickleball Association (usapa.org) teaches the game at the Corte Madera Recreation Center, the Osher Marin Jewish Com- munity Center in San Rafael, a resort in Tecate, Mexico and, soon, he hopes to offer classes at the Bay Club in Ross Valley and the Rolling Hills Club in Novato. "When I first started playing in Marin County, my wife Maria and I had a tough time getting four people together to play," he recalls. "Today we have as many as 50 people show up and play at our pickleball courts in Novato on the weekends." That's because, he says, pickleball, is easy to learn and easier on the body "if you don't get addicted," he quips. "Watch out because most people who play, play almost everyday." How the ball got rolling Pickleball was initially an accidental backyard diversion invented by two Washington state fathers, Congress- man Jim Pritchard and Bill Bell, who sought entertainment for their bored Please see PICKLE, Page 8 Debbie Neidermeyer of Mill Valley and her son Chet, home from college in Texas, practice a pick- leball shot with MPL co-founder Teresa Toepel. – Photo by PJ Br emier It's OK to be'in a pickle' PICKLE: Attracts players of all ages Continued from Page 4 415-456-9062 | vivalon.org 930 Tamalpais Ave, San Rafael BESTNonprofit OrganizationinMarin JOINUS! FORIN-PERSONORONLINE CLASSESANDTHETASTIEST LUNCHDEALINTOWN! Formerly known as Whistlestop. All guests must be fully vaccinated. 6 June 5, 2022 Senior Living A Marketing Supplement of the Marin Independent Journal | marinij.com