On Sunday morning, Rutland became the 36th stop in 63-year-old Dean Matt’s quest to set a new world record: 48 games of pickleball in all 48 contiguous states in less than 48 days. He calls it the 48-48-48 and set out on May 1 from Sarasota, Florida, where he resides. Most days he plays two matches in two different states, and some days even three.
On Sunday afternoon, he said, “We’re more than 75% (through the tour). We just landed in Portland, Maine, and this is stop number 38, so we’ve got only 10 stops left.”
“I’ve always wanted to do an event where I could combine aviation and some sport and go around the country. We became pickleball addicts within the last year and decided this would be a good thing,” he said. “All the communities I reached out to wanted to be a part of it, too. Everyone just has a good time, they’re cheering us on, and it’s very lighthearted; we’re not playing for (a good score) or anything, everyone’s just having a good time.”
Pickleball, a hybrid of tennis, ping pong and badminton, is played with a paddle and a perforated plastic ball and rumored to be named after a dog called Pickles who kept intercepting the ball and running off with it.
“The enthusiasm is growing because every state we go to there’s news stories and cameras and those stories get picked up by markets we’re not even going to,” Matt said. “So word’s getting around and there’s a lot of people following us.”
Dozens of spectators gathered around the court at the Rutland Racquet Club on Sunday as the Rutland City Rotary Club’s Steve White introduced the match, saying, “It’s 10 o’clock, it’s party time.”
White says Matt’s stop in Rutland was also a great chance to highlight the growing pickleball community in Rutland, and the annual Build Better Friendships Pickleball Tournament, which the Rotary hosts in partnership with Vermont Sport & Fitness and Rutland Recreation & Parks Department. It started last fall and became a saving grace when the Rotary’s other fundraisers like the golf tournament and Christmas tree sales were impacted by COVID. “We needed something,” White said. “Pickleball was the answer.” This year’s tournament takes place on Sept. 9-10.
