I am Jeff Whited from Detroit, Michigan. Let’s go back to 1975. Pickleball was a developing and emerging game. Not too many people knew about it, but it had started spreading to almost all the states of the US. My Father has been a businessperson (wearing business attire with a suitcase) and a man interested in political news and events. In one political event that he attended, he got introduced to this new game. He enjoyed playing it for the very first time, as it relieved him of all the worries and tensions of his business while playing matches, replacing business attire with loose sports clothes. Later, he started to become addicted to the game, playing once every week..

My mother has been very enthusiastic about health, and she has given us the same cynicism, growing up we literally had a pull up bar on each of our room’s doors & we would for fun do 5 pull ups before coming for breakfast or lunch. It is just our home’s vibe to fill that rush of endorphins.

Mom always told us the story of her first pickleball match & how bad she was at it on Christmas. It was her Christmas wish to get better at the sport because her best friend would play & that’s how her practice started.

She had just started playing this new game for the past few months. Coincidentally, one sunny day, she went to the court and got matched up with my father. They played with each other for first time in a single’s court. In the set of 3, my father won the very first game. However, during the first game, he found himself captivated by the natural charm and beauty my mother possessed. Later, he intentionally lost two games, allowing my mother to win.

They became good friends and started playing and dating together frequently. After dating for 1 year, they arrived at a sweet spot, deciding to live together forever. My father was looking to purchase a new house after the wedding. With the money that he had, he made sure that the new house had at least a small pickleball court so they could play every day.

I was the eldest of all my siblings born in the family. We are now a family of 6 people. My parents, three brothers and myself. I grew up seeing paddles and wiffle balls as a baby. On my 5th birthday, my mother gifted me a brand new paddle, which I was a fan of as a kid. By the age of5, I already knew all the rules of the game, watching my parents playing every day. I still remember how she used to teach me the basics of holding the Paddle the right way. Having a court in our backyard made me popular among the neighbourhood children.
The most amazing and exciting times that I longed for were summer vacations. It was the time when we used to organise tournaments within our family at the city sports stadium near to the downtown dedicated to Pickleball (Stadiums have standard bigger size courts compared to the one in our home backyard). Out of my siblings, over the years I had gained expertise playing the game, plus I had an unfair advantage, being the eldest of all.  

I currently live with my girlfriend located in Canada. I graduated as a computer professional and I am working with Quicksoft IT Solutions remotely from home in front of screens and digital gadgets. I work during the day and play Pickleball in the evenings with my girlfriend. Playing everyday helps me to refresh after working day long with digital gadgets.