'Pickleball is about the people': Pine City Area Pickleball builds community, one game at a time

Janet Hawkinson was an early adopter of pickleball in Pine City, when snowbirds brought the sport back with them from Arizona about 16 years ago.

"One of my girlfriends was one of the people that went to Arizona and brought pickleball back," Hawkinson said. "So, in our group, I'm the historian. I've been there the whole way."

What started as a group of friends has grown into Pine City Area Pickleball, a nonprofit organization — close to 100 members strong, with a contact list of about 300 — operated entirely by volunteers.

Hawkinson, who currently serves as president of PCAP, explained in an interview on Thursday that the organization's goal is fostering community, one pickleball game at a time.

"Our mission is to further strengthen our community by utilizing pickleball as a source of recreation, entertainment, and social networking," she said.

Part of PCAP's endeavors include locating six-to-eight pickleball courts in the Pine City area, with a site at the city's Westside Park as the organization's preferred location.

Currently, PCAP utilizes other facilities offering pickleball amenities, including Meshakwad Community Center in Hinckley and the Rock Creek City Center.

Hawkinson added that Pine City Community Education has provided pickleball classes for adults, and the Pine City School District's physical education department and summer recreation program has offered youth programming.

'I got addicted to pickleball'

Mitchell Vannelli, a self-proclaimed ambassador for PCAP, followed a more reluctant path to the pickleball court.

After moving up to the Pine City area to stay with his parents and help them out during the wintertime, he found himself in pursuit of recreation opportunities.

"The Pine City community, I love it to death, but not a lot to do in the winter up here besides fishing and outdoor activities," Vannelli said.

Vannelli's family signed up for a pickleball group — he recalls hearing "we're going to go play pickleball, and you're coming no matter what" — and, on a 15-degree Friday evening, Vannelli found himself walking into a Pine City middle school gym, apple stickers on the floor and all.

"It was kind of like, what are we doing?" He remembers asking himself.

"He showed up with his mom, dad, and girlfriend," Hawkinson said. "It was great."

Vannelli grew up a three-sport athlete — hockey, baseball, and football, but no racket sports — and discovered a quick affinity for pickleball.

"The second I picked up the paddle and kind of learned the rules, which can be a little confusing, but once I picked it up, I'm like, 'I'm good at this,'" Vannelli remembers. "'I'm kind of really good at this.'"

Vannelli recalls the gym as a judgment-free space, where pickleball players of all ages, abilities, and walks of life supported each other.

"Forget the score. Yes I'm competitive, yes I want to win, and yes there are competitive matches, but I've made more friends across more age groups playing this sport in the last eight months than I have in an entire lifetime," Vannelli said. "It's truly incredible."

The Vannelli contingent returned to the gymnasium the following week, and the next week, and the week after that.

"The journey just kind of came, where it didn't really matter if you were good or not at it," Vannelli said. "It was just cool, because I'm like 'these people are pretty nice.' I left there feeling a little bit enlightened: 'This is pretty cool, I genuinely like this.'"

Hawkinson — who Vannelli calls "the most wonderful woman in the world" — invited him to an annual tournament at Meshakwad, where the competitive tenor kindled his competitive spirit.

"I'm watching these guys play, and I'm like, 'that doesn't look like middle school gym pickleball,'" Vannelli said.

Vannelli said the relationships he was building were more important than the game when he kept coming back to the court. After initially "getting destroyed," Vannelli showed up each week an improved player.

Now a resident of the Twin Cities, Vannelli plays four times a week. He has won leagues, grown his ranking, and played in out-of-state tournaments. And he says he owes those successes to Hawkinson's invitation.

"I love it. I got addicted to pickleball," Vannelli said.

Efforts to bring courts to Pine City

Hawkinson said that over the course of 16 years, PCAP has "nudged people" about a need for courts in Pine City.

"Finally, we got to the point where we really understood that if we wanted these courts, we were going to have to work for it," she said.

Hawkinson said PCAP has been in communication with the Pine City Council, city administrator Marcy Peterson, and parks and public buildings manager Brock Bloomquist about the potential project.

"We're working with the city of Pine City and looking for a partner that we can come alongside and see if we can't make these courts a reality," Hawkinson said.

PCAP is out in the community raising money for courts; Hawkinson said the organization raised $50,000 in its first year of fundraising.

"We have to sit down and determine, based on the resources PCAP has and based on the resources the city has, can we put these together and move forward with the project?" Hawkinson said. "And how those resources come together is still being worked out."

PCAP was recently awarded a Partners in Healthy Living grant, which is being used on a scheduling app that connects players with places to play, along with equipment.

The organization has also taken over the bingo stand at the Pine County Fair for the past two years.

The bingo stand required 89 commitments for three-hour shifts over the span of the fair; when Hawkinson finished recruiting pickleball people, 180 spots were covered.

"I thought, by God, we're going to run a bingo stand," Hawkinson said. "It's community, it's a group."

'Pickleball is about the people'

Hawkinson's ethos regarding the sport is a simple one: "Pickleball is about the people."

PCAP has been connected with Pine City Community Education since the beginning, and offers Friday night classes. A 6 to 7:30 p.m. session offers a "non-threatening" atmosphere for new players, and open play is available from 7:30 to 9 p.m.

Brand new players get to try out the sport for free for their first two sessions.

"There's a big focus on trying to welcome new players," Hawkinson said.

About three weekends ago, Vannelli won a competitive tournament in the east metro area. After the awards were handed out, Vannelli found himself hitting a ball back and forth with his tourney partner, his father, and his seven-year-old son, whose paddle was "about as big as his chest."

"We just went from a very competitive atmosphere to this guy standing next to me completely turning off a switch and just embracing this moment with his kid, with his father, with his kid, with some goofy-looking guy he just met probably two weeks ago and asked me to play with him," Vannelli said. "I think for me, that was a moment that felt like, 'I'm going to remember this for a while. Look at this generational thing.'"

Vannelli hopes that PCAP can help instill that same feeling for others in the Pine City area.

"Maybe there is another 18-to-20-year-old kid that doesn't have a lot to do in Pine City, and doesn't want to get in trouble and doesn't want to do dumb stuff, and just wants to go hit a ball around with his friends," Vannelli said. "I mean, I was that kid, and she [Hawkinson] opened the door for me, and I think the main goal of this is that we want to open the door for other people."