FORT WORTH, Texas — At age 85, Carol Mitchell says she isn’t usually up to speed with the latest trends, but there is one bandwagon she hopped on long before anyone else: pickleball.
It’s the fastest growing sport in America, but Mitchell was playing in Fort Worth long before it was cool.
“No, it was not cool at all,” she said. “It was kind of made fun of. They would make a face and, ‘what in the world is pickleball?’”
Mitchell was introduced to pickleball about eight years ago when a friend invited her to try it, and she was hooked.
“I just enjoyed it so much I wanted to share it with other people,” she said.
She started sharing the game with others by getting courts installed outside the condos where she lives.
Eventually, she helped convince the city to put courts at RD Evans Community Center.
“We used to beg people to play,” Mitchell said. “Now you just beg for a spot on the court.”
Pickleball has spread to recreation centers, country clubs and parks all over Fort Worth.
Kyle White works for the city and said Mitchell played a big role.
“I think she’s been pretty vital to our program here,” said White.
Mitchell is pickleball royalty in Fort Worth, which is why other players jokingly call her the pickleball queen, and why she jokingly responded by bringing a crown to the gym.
Truthfully, Mitchell said she’s overjoyed to see how far pickleball has come in Fort Worth and glad she could be a trendsetter.
So what trend will she be ahead of next?
“Well, I play Mahjong,” she said.
Carol Mitchell: pickleball queen and Fort Worth’s next mahjong influencer.
“No, no, no,” she laughed. “I’m not one of those.”