Pickleball Helps Reunite Lifelong Friends

Joey Rogoff, a well-known social media personality, and childhood friend Spencer Hendlin are enjoying a reunion at the USA Pickleball National Championships.

By Stephen Hunt -Red Line Editorial

---------------

FARMERS BRANCH, Texas -- Many of the newcomers who have made pickleball the nation’s fastest-growing sport credit the game’s strong social aspect, Joey Rogoff included.

But for Rogoff, a prominent social media personality who is competing as an amateur in the men’s singles division at the 2023 Biofreeze USA Pickleball National Championships powered by Invited and the PPA Tour, the sport also helped reunite him with a lifelong friend this week.

A native of Cleveland, Rogoff now lives in Los Angeles, where he’s become a well-known personality on TikTok (@joeyrogoff) with 4.6 million followers thanks to frequently viewed challenges like Which Skittles Flavor is Rarest? He’s also a prominent YouTuber with 307,000 subscribers.

When he heard that the national championships would be held at Brookhaven Country Club in Farmers Branch, Texas, a northern Dallas suburb, he called up his childhood friend Spencer Hendlin, who now lives in uptown Dallas and works in banking.

The old friends are staying together at Hendlin’s place this week.

“We grew up together but haven’t seen each other in a while,” Rogoff said. “Got to come out and see Dallas for the first time, get to explore the city and play some fun pickleball.”

Rogoff and Hendlin previously played tennis together. With Rogoff now being a pickler for the past two years, his close friend has also followed him onto the pickleball court.

“Yeah, it’s cool. I got to take him out, do some Tex-Mex, get some barbecue,” Hendlin said. “It’s really good to have him in Texas. It’s good to let him see a little bit of it, even though he’s only here for a few days.

“It’s awesome to have this (event) here, so close. That’s one of the reasons I moved to Texas, is because in Dallas things like this come here that don’t come to Cleveland, where we grew up.”

Like many who have transitioned from tennis to pickleball, Rogoff sees various parallels in the two sports.

“I came from tennis, so I have that experience in a racquet sport,” Rogoff said. “It’s so different from tennis because it’s much more social. I’ve met so many cool people playing this game and have noticed that I’ve been able to advance my game much quicker than in tennis. I think there’s a chance for me to advance to a higher level in this game, where in tennis, it’s such a hard sport (to advance in).”

Rogoff’s lengthy tennis resume includes playing various high-profile tournaments. He’s relatively new to the world of pickleball events but is impressed with what he’s seen thus far in his new sport.

“This is my fifth tournament. I played the qualifying event in LA for this and got a lottery spot for nationals,” he said. “It’s cool (just to be here). It’s a cool environment playing next to all these top pros. I’m literally feet within Anna Leigh Waters, Ben Johns, top players, so it’s pretty cool.

“Yeah, it’s great (to see the atmosphere they’ve created here). I’ve been at some of the top tennis tournaments in the world, and they’re trying to emulate that. They’re doing a great job with this. With the amount of people they have (here), it’s pretty cool seeing this sport grow with the amount of vendors, food and all that good stuff.”

Rogoff plays predominantly singles pickleball but admits he also dabbles in doubles for a nice change of pace.

“Socially, more people play doubles, so I’ll go out there and play for fun and stuff in doubles,” he said.

“I think singles is much different than doubles pickleball, obviously. In doubles, there’s a lot more strategy, where singles is kind of (all about) the basics — serve, get to the net and finish out the point. It just depends on the game you’re playing.”

Besides pickleball being a vehicle for him to reunite with a lifelong friend, Rogoff also likes playing a sport where he can make friends with players of all ages.

“Oh yeah, one of the guys I play with on a consistent basis, I’m 24 and he’s 55,” he said. “He’s one of my good friends now, which it’s pretty rare to see that.”

And after seeing Rogoff play in nationals and recently picking up a paddle himself, Hendlin now has incentive to continue working on his game.

“I started playing pickleball a few months ago and I’m not bad, but he’s kicking my ass in that too,” Hendlin said. “Just got to try to get as good as I can to try and beat this guy too. Now I’ve got a reason to.”

Stephen Hunt is an accomplished freelance writer and sports statistician who has been blessed to cover a multitude of subjects and sports in his time. He is a freelance contributor to USA Pickleball on behalf of Red Line Editorial, Inc.