By Wendy Anders

The U.S. Pickleball Association (USAPA), based in Surprise, AZ, describes pickleball as “the fastest growing sport in the U.S.”

Created in 1965 in Washington State there are currently pickleball play opportunities offered throughout the U.S., and even abroad.

Tony Horpel, a California native who settled a few years ago with his wife in San Ramón, Costa Rica, a small mountain town about an hour west of San José, is the USAPA’s pickleball ambassador to Costa Rica.

He and his wife Celeste moved from Spokane, Washington, and are both active in the sport and in organizing the weekly games, which attract from 10-12 people on average. The couple’s three grown children still live in Spokane.

The game, which Tony Horpel describes as a “a cross between tennis and ping pong, and is played on a court 1/4 the size of tennis,” is played with small paddles and colorful polymer whiffle-like balls.

The Costa Rica pickleball group hosts play times in the Santiago, San Ramón recreation center four days a week: Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays at 8 a.m., and Sundays at 2:30 p.m. The first two sessions are free, and after that players are asked to contribute a monthly fee of 10,000 colones (about $18).

The sessions are played on three painted courts in the Santiago recreation center, are open to all interested players over the age of 10, and no experience is necessary, said Tony Horpel. Games are typically played as doubles and last approximately 15 minutes.

On pickleball sites in the U.S., the sport is hailed as a high-energy, low-impact form of exercise that has allowed people to have fun returning to sports after an injury or a period of inactivity.

Most players in the San Ramón sessions are U.S. and Canadian citizens residing in the Central Valley. The couple has equipment for newcomers to use as well as a ball machine for practice, said the Horpels.

In November, the couple is hosting a two-week pickleball tour from the U.S. to Costa Rica for a maximum of 8 travelers wishing to combine some fun exercise with beach and other travels, as well as some great photography opportunities.

Tony Horpel, who is a photographer and videographer and has a background in finance, and his wife Celeste Horpel can be reached at 8369-3087 for more information on local pickleball sessions or their pickleball tours to Costa Rica.