The non-financial cost of Pickleball addiction has risen its ugly head in Dubbo, with keen enthusiasts, Dion and Shayleen, bearing the burden of having their six-year-old daughter, Ameena, adopted by the Dubbo Pickleball crew as one of their own!

Since Dion and Shay started enjoying Pickleball, little Ameena has been there, quietly reading her books, doing her colouring-in, watching Mum and Dad, while gradually gaining in confidence till she now casually strolls up with a “would you like a chat?“ or “did you have a good day?” query as she goes around checking the styles and techniques of the regulars, always with a bright smile and a happy face.

Each session with Mum and Dad and her Pickleball family now sees little Ameena developing her own all-round skills as she careers around the courts, hitting a ball here and a ball there, even assuming the responsibility in supervising other little ones and guiding them on correct Pickleball etiquette.

She has even gone so far as taking responsibility for the return of the playing card her Dad had “withheld” from the team playing deck. She evidently felt she had to come forward and inform us that she had saved the card for everyone to use as Dion (her Dad) hid in the back row. Good girl, Ameena!

Since she turned six when we were shared beautiful “patty cakes” for her birthday, this young Dubbo Pickleball player has been, more often than not, seen with a paddle in her hand with a keen eye searching for the ball and practising her return of shots, for she is always expanding her repertoire.

This development has seen Mum and Dad keeping a watching brief on how she is progressing, which has also fired both parents themselves to also improve their playing level.

Methinks this is a direct result of Ameena who — when they return home after each Pickleball session — is throwing tips their way and helping them to improve their play. This coaching from young Ameena has so motivated their improvement, that their success has been recognised after they fought their way to the Gold Cups finals before running out winners of the highest-ranked Purple Boss Challenge on Monday night last. They eventually bagged the title after several hard-fought encounters against more-experienced opponents; so, it looks like the coaching from their Pickleball-playing daughter is good for a few more years at top yet!

In other news, Paul Brandon and Phil Peak clawed their way through to the next level of the Monday evening Boss series, settling on the Gold to reign as winners.

New comps in the 5 4 have also started the process period, and next week we should see a strong Men’s Open, Men’s B, "Bahaabs" Mixed group, and 60+ Open age group.

The weather is warming-up, and so are the standards, for more information, contact Greg on 0411 265 485.