IV pickleball association: where camaraderie meets cardio

submitted by janet stills
edited by justin orsino & sarina e. guerra

My name is Janet Stills and I have lived in Brawley my entire life, excluding the four years I spent away while attending San Diego State University.  I am 63 years young, and retired from a wonderful teaching career of 37 years in 2022. I’ve always been an active person, having played softball at Brawley Union High School and Intramural at College.

Janet Stills with her softball team at Brawley Union High School

These days, I still compete in Ranch Sorting with my horse, “Cats A High Roller”. I also recently won the Open Sorting Championship at the Imperial Valley Team Penning/Sorting event on March 15, 2025.  

When I retired, I knew I needed to play a sport to help keep me active. I had taught Pickleball at Barbara Worth Jr. High for 18 years and loved the sport, so I thought… 

Pickleball has been the fastest growing sport in the world for the last four years. My husband, taking notice of my newfound interest, surprised me with a painted court on his concrete shop area as my retirement gift. I was thrilled and hence gathered some of my friends (a group of eight ladies) and began meeting up to play three times a week. Sure enough, our little group started growing and my one court just wasn’t enough. With warmer weather fast approaching, we decided to see where we could play indoors during the scorching summer months.

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