Sierra Vista Success Story

Chuck Borozinski (left) is another one of what we call "A Pickleball Pied Piper"  Chuck has an uncanny, ever-expanding ability to lead people onto the pickleball courts and almost instantly turn them into avid players.

As pickleball spreads like a prairie wildfire across America, The Pickleball Pied Pipers play a special role in growing the sport's popularity.  Chuck is unique in that his "territory" encompasses a hug swath of Southern Arizona roughly bounded by 1-19, I-10, the New Mexico state line and the Mexican border.  Chuck runs the Southern Arizona Pickleball Association (SAPA) and keeps up a relentless schedule of beginner workshops, clinics and special events.  Beyond Chuck's Energizer Bunny schedule, perhaps his biggest contributions to the incessant spread of pickleball are his instructional dealings with various communities, RV parks and, yes, even a military base.

Chuck single-handedly converted Sierra Vista into a pickleball boom town.  Just one year ago, he reached our to recruit collaborators in Sierra Vista.  On May 17, 2016, he put up a poster on SAPA Facebook and the rest, as they say, is history.

A huge turnout June 18 surprised everyone and pickleball proceeded to take off.  One year later, the Sierra Vista Pickleball Community marked a major milestone when a former tennis court was professionally converted into four top notch pickleball courts.

We've said this before and we'll say it today and again in the future.  One single pickleball passionate person can make a huge difference in the spread of the game.  But it's more than the spread of the game--it's about bringing the people out onto the courts and engaging them to personally embrace pickleball.  By carrying the pickleball flame far afield, people such as Chuck Borozinski are providing the spark to bring lifelong enjoyment, physical activity and social rewards to countless people.

As Chuck said on the SAPA Facebook May 21: "Sierra Vista Pickleball players are growing like crazy! On June 18, 2016 SAPA, working with a local Sierra Vista resident Tammy Ward put on the 1st Pickleball Clinic in their area. Talk about people taking a ball and running with it, They had some temporary courts on a basketball court in a very short period of time. A few months after that they obtained an indoor place to play. Now, they have a tennis court converted professionally to 4 pickleball courts. And these are Public. The players in Sierra Vista have proved they are growing and will utilize the courts. I know some of the players that have been involved in getting this accomplished and just want to say "Congratulations". I'm sure a big 'Thank you' should go out to Sierra Vista Leisure Services! Now, I'll have to get down there and play!"

Congratulations and HUGE Kudos to Chuck for his dedication to this awesome sport!

Here are some links:

SAPA Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/SAPApage/

SAPA Website: http://info.sapa.club/

The USAPA "Places To Play" info on Sierra Vista (as of May 21, 2017):

http://www.usapa.org/places-to-play-pickleball/