Pickle Bullies are Real

Now go out there and have fun anyway

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As a retired high school counselor, I’ve seen my share of tears due to social exclusion, gossip, and mean behavior. Countless times, I assured my students that this stuff stops when they get older.

I owe them an apology. I should have said, “This stuff doesn’t matter as much when you get older, but it still hurts.”

Pickle bullies are real.

It wasn’t until I experienced exclusion on the pickleball court that I noticed the heated comments on social media about playing with newbies.

In all fairness, there are two sides.

It is hard to play your best game with a beginner.

I am not suggesting that beginners jump on a court with players and be welcomed with open arms. However, I am saying that how you interact with a player that isn’t as good as you are speaks volumes about your character.

Having never played a racquet sport before, I fell in love with pickleball shortly after I retired. I took a class to learn the basics, started playing weekly with a group I met at the class, took a few private lessons, a group clinic or two, and jumped into some open play. I watched a lot of how-to YouTube videos. As far as I was concerned, I was ready to take it to the next level…