If someone had told me 10 years ago that I might suggest renaming our organization the Pickleball Mediation Program I would have laughed at the joke. I had no way of knowing even what pickleball was or how it would affect our program. A couple of years ago though, it appeared to me that the entire Board and service provider roster were a little more interested in playing pickleball than doing mediations. I, who cannot seem to hit anything with a bat, racket, or paddle to save my life, made fun of the crowd I called "pickleball mediators." We thought about having a pickleball tournament to raise money. We came up with metaphors about the game related to conflict resolution.
As with any human activity, pickleball and conflict have intersected in many communities, including our neighbors in Falmouth. Our Los Angeles colleague Marlon Schulman has written an interesting article about the various aspects of pickleball and conflict resolution. You can read that article here. Play ball!