Aiken Pickleball News

Please Welcome Lisa Barrett-Johnson, a.k.a. LBJ

Lisa Barrett-Johnson, a.k.a. LBJ, is our new certified teaching instructor at Gregg Park effective June 1st, 2023. In a couple of weeks, Lisa will be offering Drills with LBJ on Wednesday evenings from 6-7pm at Gregg Park. Separate news article to follow with more details and info on how to sign up. She will also be available for lessons at Odell Weeks on Tuesday and Saturday afternoons. For more information, to see a photo and contact details select Read more

A new transplant to the south (six years) and a former Wall Street trader from New York, Lisa came to Georgia as a longtime tennis instructor. The first day she saw a group playing pickleball she was hooked. The rest is history, as they say .

Certified to teach for over four years and an avid pickleball tournament participant, Lisa has won over 75 medals in the past few years. With a love of the sport and a penchant for exercise (a ten time marathon participant) she is super excited to be teaching at Odell Weeks and Gregg Park, and looks forward to bringing back some laughter to the sport! Her focus is on strategy, how to be defensive, and turning defense to offense. She feels you don’t have to be the best person on the court, you have to be the smartest!

LBJ will assist Mo with New Players Clinics at Odell Weeks and conduct her own New Players Clinics at Gregg Park. Email address is lisabarrettjohnson002@gmail.com

Celebration of New Courts at Virginia Acres Park

Thank you to everyone who came to the celebration of the new courts at Virginia Acres Park. And thank you to Mike and Loretta Beckner and the pickleball pioneers (also known as the Pickledillys) who started us on the road to being the thriving pickleball community that we are today.

Pickleball pioneers Jean Durkee, Sharon McMichael, Mike Beckner, Loretta Beckner, Ron Nelson, and Nelson Spitnale

Mike and Loretta Beckner

New Players Clinic at Odell Saturday June 17th

The next New Players Pickleball Clinic at Odell Weeks will be on Saturday, June 17th. The clinic is for people new to the game of pickleball. Clinic is full. Schedule as follows:

845-9am - Check-in at front desk

9-10 am - Instruction

10-11 am - Practice Play

Clinic will include proper court position, how to keep score, how to make the transition from tennis and other racquet sports to pickleball and much more. Players should wear tennis shoes and bring something to drink. Clinic will be held indoors on Courts 1 & 2 in Gym 2, at Odell Weeks. Balls and paddles provided. Maximum 8 players. Cost is $15 per person which includes the daily access fee. Sign up and pay at the Odell Weeks front desk. Bring your receipt to the clinic.

Note: Fee also covers attendance at the New Players Practice session to be scheduled later.

Celebration of new courts at Virginia Acres

There will be a celebration of the new courts at Virginia Acres Park at 4.30 pm on May 23. Aiken Pickleball Inc. would like to show our appreciation to the City for building the courts and would be delighted to see our pickleball community show up to mark the occasion.

After the outdoor celebration, we will move inside for a potluck social at 5pm. All are welcome. To sign up for the potluck, click here.

We want to give special thanks to Mike and Loretta Beckner, who introduced pickleball to Aiken 13 years ago and changed our lives for the better. We are deeply grateful to the people who first showed up to support Mike and Loretta, some of whom are still actively involved in making pickleball a fun experience for everyone. The pickleball pioneers, who were also known as the Pickledillys, included Ron Nelson, Jean Durkee, Sharon McMichael, Bobbie Atwell, Leigh Maund, Maggie Ward, John Cox, Rob Bromley and Nelson Spitnale.

Our district ambassador, Mo Garcia, has worked tirelessly with the City to provide the initial 8 outdoor courts as well as the latest addition of the six outdoor courts at Virginia Acres Park. Thank you, Mo!

Aiken/Savannah Lakes Mini-Scramble

The Aiken/Savannah Lakes Mini-Scramble featured a round robin arrangement for a total of 7 games employing Men’s, Women ‘s and Mixed Doubles. Savannah Lakes Village Pickleball players were Bob Massie, Joe Locke, Bryan Conner, Chuck Wiegert, Anne Hiney, Brenda Briggs, Tracy McGraw, and Julie Elmore. Aiken Pickleball players were Ben Stephens, Rob Harrington, Mike Howard, Jay Wilson, Heidi Abele, Dianne Floyd Peg Sharp, and Christy Pritchard. Great play and camaraderie!