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.

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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Our partnership began with the Lion’s Center when we asked if we could tape courts and share the space in the morning before the Summer Day Campers arrived. Since then, they have allowed us to do just that and because we understand that recreational sports for the community have first priority, we’re happy to have any time that they allow us to play when the center is not having an event.

As our members grew from 12 to a whopping 81, we needed to tape more courts to accommodate morning, evening, and weekend players. We currently have four taped courts inside the Lion’s Center, and in May of 2024, our group of dedicated ladies decided that we would like to have permanent courts for Pickleball since we often have to share the space with other events. I remembered playing on the courts at Meserve Park as a child, so I was inspired to go check out that space as a potential hub for our group. Unfortunately, I arrived to see that the courts were in complete disarray and not well maintained at all; I knew immediately that it would take a large amount of resources to repair the damage and build new Pickleball courts. We decided to seek assistance from the City of Brawley, but our hearts sank when we heard there were no funds available. They encouraged us to become a 501(c)3 non-profit so we could apply for grants to hopefully refurbish the courts, and with the help of the oh-so gracious Kay Day Pricola we were able to achieve that goal. In September of 2024, we officially became…

Every day, I get to play with the most beautiful people inside and out! We all love Pickleball and the friendships we have gained through the sport seem to just keep on growing. This sport is so much fun to play no matter the age, and our group has seen players join in from 12 to 78. Once you play, you are hooked! We laugh, share tips with each other, cheer each other on, take lessons to improve our skills, and participate in tournaments near and far. The sport is so fun that you can play for hours and reap the benefits of naturally increasing serotonin levels while also burning calories, without even realizing that you are exercising. 

We at the Imperial Valley Pickleball Association are currently holding Tournaments to raise funds for the Meserve Park Project, and are excited to announce that our first league will become a reality in May of 2025. We are continuing to look for grants and recently worked alongside the City to help them gather information to apply for a grant to improve Meserve Park as well. Our mission is to provide a fun sport for all ages to keep our community healthy and active. With the proposed Pickleball courts being located next to Myron D. Witter School, we think we could even partner with students in the after-school programs and teach them how to enjoy a hobby that gets their heart rate up. Knowing that many people in our region suffer from high Diabetes rates, sedentary lifestyles, and a wide range of mental health issues, we think this sport is a way to help those that need…

Ultimately, our goal is to build six brand new Pickleball courts that our whole Imperial Valley can use to enjoy the sport we love so much!

On behalf of the group, I’d like to thank our Mayor, Gil Rebollar, and the previous City Council for generously allowing us to use the Lion’s Center for Pickleball as often as possible. And shout-out to Gabby, the maintenance worker, who tapes our courts and sets up our nets daily. She is awesome! We also appreciate Interim City Manager and Police Chief Jimmy Duran for his support in collaboration with the Parks and Recreation Department. We couldn’t possibly have this much fun without all of you.

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