ABOVE: Jodi Pouilot, Dan and Patty Fitzgerald and Rhonda King play a game of pickleball Thursday night at Veterans Park in Fairmont. Three more were playing on the other court. The Thursday night group is one of several that meet to play at different times and locations around Fairmont.

FAIRMONT– There are several active pickleball groups in the community that get together to play at various locations weekly. Pickleball combines elements of tennis, badminton and ping-pong and while it’s been around just about 60 years, it’s becoming one of the most popular paddle or racket sports in the world.

Jodi Pouilot organizes a 7 p.m. Thursday night group that plays at Veterans Park.

“We had 10 people two weeks ago. There’s room for eight people to play because there’s two courts there,” Pouilot said. “I started a Facebook group I welcome people to join. It’s called Pickleball Players in Fairmont.”

She’s a member of Fairmont Women of Today and said that last year they did some beginning pickleball classes to train people how to play.

“One person plays a lot now because of that and others play occasionally,” Pouilot said.

Pouilot herself has been playing for about 10 years. She moved here from Utah a few years ago but while in Utah she was part of a study that the Utah Southern University did that called for people over the age of 50 to learn how to play pickleball.

“They gave us lessons to play. First of all we had to have our height and strength measured and our eyes for sharpness to see what our reaction time is. Then they gave us our lessons and we played two hours a week and then went back 12 weeks later and they retested us and we all showed significant improvement,” Pouilot said.

She began playing regularly after that and upon moving to Fairmont in 2020, she connected with Char Kahler and has continued to play regularly with groups in Fairmont.

“It’s a good way for older people, or anyone really, to get some exercise. You’re not moving a lot and it’s a social experience as well. Health-wise, it’s a way to get out and do something,” Pouilot said.

The Thursday night group plays at the outdoor courts at Veterans Park, which have been facing surface deterioration for some time. The Fairmont Park Board, and the Fairmont City Council, have been discussing requests to resurface them since 2023.

“A lot of the paint is peeling and the surface is uneven. It’s poor but we don’t have any other (outdoor) options,” Pouilot said.

She noted that some of the other options cost to play at so she prefers the free outdoor court at veterans Park.

As for equipment, a net, shorter than a tennis net, is needed. Pouilot said court shoes are fine to wear and the paddles cost anywhere between $12 to $150. Luckily, both Fairmont Community Education and Recreation (CER) and the Martin County Library in Fairmont rent out paddles and balls.

Ultimately, she would like to keep spreading the word about pickleball locally.

“We’re looking at growing it. Both the people and hopefully more outdoor courts. It could bring some people to town because a lot of people play tournaments but we just don’t have courts available,” Pouilot said.

Char Kahler often plays in different groups and has been playing for well over 10 years.

“There’s factors for playing inside or outside. Rain and wind is a big factor, especially wind. There are balls specifically for that with smaller holes in them for playing outdoors because of the wind,” Kahler said.

The group she plays with now plays year-round. She explained what got her involved in the first place.

“It goes back to Phil Hanson. He was talking about pickleball and at first I said, ‘that’s an old person’s game,’ but we played and I was surprised that you get more exercise than you think,” Kahler said.

She helped organize a group that originally played at Fairmont Elementary School. When there was no longer room to play there for scheduling reasons, Kahler said they were fortunate to be able to play at Ramee And Bonnie Vetter’s gym, which is where they still play today.

“We play one evening and two mornings a week. We put up two courts there and can play up to 10 people max. We get anywhere from five to 10 people,” Kahler said.

She knows of another group that used to play at Vetter’s that now plays at Bethel Evangelical Free Church in Fairmont every Tuesday evening.

Deb Roggow is part of that group. She and her husband Brian have been playing there about five years and said they switched location from the recommendation of Tonilynn and the late Jim Fleming.

“The ball bounces better than we could imagine,” Roggow said of the floor at Bethel. “It’s air-conditioned in the summer time and heated in the winter time. It’s pretty comfortable playing in there.”

She said they get anywhere from four to 12 people and because it’s mostly people who work, they play in the evening for about an hour and a half.

“It’s not like we’re an exclusive group. If there’s someone in the community that wants to play pickleball just reach out,” Roggow said.

There are even more groups in the community that play as Kahler said she knows of some who do Silver Sneakers at Live Fit and then regularly play pickleball afterward.

All in all, she’s grateful for the different options to play in the community and thanked some of those from the city and the school district who help make it happen.

“Nick (Lardy) has been very accommodating in so many ways,” Kahler said. “We also appreciate at the high school that Tyler (Garrison) keeps up the courts way into the fall so that we can play tennis. People are being accommodating,” Kahler said.

She said she has seen people playing pickleball at the tennis courts at the high school but noted that the lines and the net aren’t quite right for pickleball.