Andrea Molberg
SPA, the SaddleBrooke Pickleball Association, has 683 members and a new Board for 2017. Here are a few of the leaders:
Tom Kruse, the president of the new SPA Board, is beginning his fourth year on the board. He’s been secretary, vice president and president. Tom played tennis for 50 years before he started playing pickleball. His wife Pam became unable to play tennis due to arthritis in her hand. Since the paddle is lighter than a tennis racket and the ball impact is much less, she started playing pickleball. Tom said, “I tried it out with her and was hooked. I’ve been playing almost since pickleball started in SaddleBrooke – eight years.” Tom is a dermatologist who had a private practice in Oregon for 35 years and still works part time there during the summer. Besides everything else, Tom and Pam teach Western Dancing three nights a week.
Vice President Mark Van Matre has been busy winning in many tournaments lately. His response to my question about the upcoming year was, “This sport has done a lot for me, so contributing to the effort to get new courts by serving on the board seemed like a good thing for me to do. We have a good board and Tom is doing a great job. Realistically, nothing will happen with new courts until the post-Robson era begins after transition.”
SPA Board Treasurer Don Richey was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania but relocated in 1970 to the San Francisco Bay Area, where he and his brother Greg founded Signal Solutions Corporation, a computer networking company. When he retired at the end of 2011, he and his wife Karen moved to SaddleBrooke. They play in the Robson Pickleball League. Don is also currently the treasurer of the SaddleBrooke Dog Park Association and has been for four years.
Howard Weinfeld, a new member at large, retired 12 years ago to SaddleBrooke from Denver. He and his wife Susan have been playing pickleball for nearly four years and he is excited to advance the sport as a member of SPA Board of Directors.
The SaddleBrooke pickleball community also benefits from having lots of volunteers including the following on its board: Shawne Cryderman, past president; Terry Jackson, secretary; Ken Powers, director at large. Think about getting involved along with them.