Pickleball craze takes hold in Mount Dora

Crowds expected at today’s tourney

The genteel sport of lawn bowling might be king in Mount Dora, but the more frenetic game of pickleball is gaining popularity.

The Mount Dora Pickleball Society was established in January 2016 with 11 members and has grown to more than 85 members, according to city spokeswoman Lisa McDonald. In a nod to increasing interest, the city in 2015 converted shuffleboard courts at Donnelly Park into three pickleball courts. Shuffleboard had declined in popularity.

Lawn bowling, meanwhile, continues to thrive. In April, the Mount Dora Lawn Bowling Club celebrated its 90th anniversary and invited the community to meet its 300 members.

But pickleball — sort of a marriage of pingpong and tennis — will be front and center today. The pickleball group will hold a tournament with a field of 22 — 11 men and 11 women. Games start at 8:15 a.m. on the pickleball courts and a fourth temporary one converted from a tennis court.

Tournament organizer Ray Ditirro, 69, said the central location of the pickleball courts — in the heart of the artsy town at Fifth Avenue and Donnelly Street — has helped boost interest. Every now and then a passer-by is intrigued enough to give it a whirl.

“It’s a game of attraction,” he said. If someone plays once, “Next thing you know they’re addicted.”

Pickleball, which got its start in 1965, is played on a badminton-sized court with what looks like a Wiffle ball. Participants whack it around with paddles that are about twice as big as pingpong paddles.

Ditirro said he and his wife, Sandy, who own a real-estate brokerage, moved to Mount Dora a couple of years ago from The Villages, which has 200 or so pickleball courts.

He said they were drawn to The Villages by the golfing opportunities but soon discovered pickleball. Though there aren’t as many pickleball courts, he said they like the smalltown living in Mount Dora better than the huge retirement community.