Tallahassee Pickleball Association

TPA News

Member Spotlight: Fred Markham

Fred Markham is the founding President of TPA and is currently serving Ex Officio as the TPA Community Liaison. During a period of explosive growth in the Tallahassee pickleball community, TPA has actively worked to give its membership a voice by advocating for more and higher quality pickleball courts and services.

Fred started playing pickleball in late 2019 to meet people and quickly became addicted to the sport. Fred tried to join the local pickleball club but found that there was none, so he and a few like-minded players started the Tallahassee Pickleball Association in May of 2021. An initial survey with 125 respondents indicated that a club would be welcome. TPA came together quickly and was a full-fledged nonprofit with tax-exempt status within a few months. After 4 years in operation, TPA has 416 members and 2,600 followers on Facebook and it seems to be stable for long-term operation. The formation of TPA has helped the pickleball community join forces to not only enjoy the sport and the camaraderie it offers, but to also lobby local government and private organizations for more courts and services for the pickleball community.

One great benefit of TPA has been to introduce many players to the sport through low fee (free to TPA members) monthly round robins. TPA partner PB&YAY! has also promoted the sport by offering several local tournaments each year.

Fred was attracted to the game because “it has just the right combination of exercise, competition, fun, personal challenge, and social interaction with the people you enjoy.” He says he has always been a pretty average athlete, but pickleball looked so easy that he figured to become an advanced player in no time at all. Well, that didn’t work out, but he consoles himself that there is a lot of fun to be had competing with friends at the 3.5 level.

Pictured to the left is Fred and Rod Houck winning gold at the Georgia Golden Olympics.

Fred plays all over Tallahassee and is a regular at The Pickle Pad, especially in the summer months. He prefers to play outside in the cooler months. He enjoys entering tournaments and playing with other players that are at his level or higher, as he believes the challenge of playing stronger players is needed for growth. When asked how he balances playing for fun and for competitiveness, he quipped “All games should be fun or we shouldn’t be doing it!”

Fred’s advice to newcomers to pickleball is to get some initial individual instruction and join some of the city’s training clinics. Then try to get into a regular group to play with. Open play sessions at the community centers or the outdoor courts provide great opportunities to meet players at your level. Players can find courts and instructors on the TPA website, the TPA Facebook Group, and on the City of Tallahassee website. Clinics and round robins offered by TPA and the city are good for beginner to advanced level players. Watching instructional videos on YouTube is also useful – quality instruction abounds at all levels, and it’s free. Fred states that it is a good idea to get a DUPR rating (a universal rating system) which is becoming a requirement to compete in many leagues, round robins, and tournaments. Not everyone is interested in getting a rating, but it does help you to keep track of your progress in the sport. Players can get an account at www.dupr.com or email a request to admin@tallahasseepickleball.com and TPA will set up an account. If you are a TPA member you probably already have a DUPR account.

While Fred is generally pleased with TPA’s relationships with local government, and especially with Leon County Parks and Recreation and Blueprint Intergovernmental Agency, he believes more needs to be done to increase the number of courts, instruction at all levels, and opportunities for both competitive and recreational play. Private facilities such as Northside Community Center and The Pickle Pad are helping fill the need, but the pickleball community needs to see more support for public facilities and services. Fred believes the number of courts in Tallahassee is not keeping pace with the pickleball demand.

One thing is for certain, Fred is tenacious. He doesn’t take “no” for an answer when it comes to promoting pickleball in our community, and for that, we are all grateful!! Thank you for all you do, Fred. TPA members salute you!