Carmen Mure’s Mission To Build A Multi-Generational Pickleball Community

Mure, a USA Pickleball Ambassador from Florida, has become an evangelist for the sport in her South Florida hometown.

By Joanne C. Gerstner
Red Line Editorial

When Carmen Mure decided to retire after a 41-year career in retail, she questioned what was next. Her heart was open, and she hoped she would find the right path.

Mure and her husband Richard loved playing racquetball over the decades. So when they were invited to try pickleball in 2017, they were intrigued. She knew nothing about the sport when they walked onto the court as guests at The Villages community in Florida.

An hour lesson later, the trajectory of Mure’s life was changed: she had found her next.

Mure is now a USA Pickleball Ambassador, well-known in her South Florida hometown of Cooper City as “the pickleball lady,” and lives as an unabashed evangelist for the sport’s power to build multi-generational community.

“There is nothing like pickleball — nothing — in terms of being a sport, an activity, that anybody, anywhere can do. That means so much to me,” Mure, 68, said. “It’s a way of getting fitness, it’s a way to make friends and build bonds with people that are meaningful, it’s a way to give back. We need more of those connections.

“Pickleball creates so many good things. I see it happening every day.”

Mure plays several times per week but says her influence is most felt in transforming spaces and creating opportunities for new players. She is experienced in attending local governmental meetings, creating and curating Facebook groups, and reaching out to parks and rec leaders, city council members and the mayor in Cooper City to get more courts. She is well-versed in the power of presence, realizing change happens through consistency.

The Cooper City pickleball group, which has grown from 62 to now more than 300 in just a few years, frequently mobilizes for positive activism. When Mure speaks during meetings, her posse — clad in red T-shirts, emblazoned with “Cooper City Pickleball” — is in the audience. Some also wear their pickleball medals, adding a touch of swag. The result? Pickleball courts are expanding in her community, with more in the development stage.

Her portfolio of pickleball missions includes helping Cooper City High School grow its new pickleball club, expanding clinics for children and seeking ways to connect local businesses through sponsorship.

Two of three local youth clinics, held this summer, received significant sponsorship from Transworld Business Advisors, an official partner of USA Pickleball. Transworld donated new equipment and items to create temporary courts, with all goods staying with the organizations for future use. One sponsored clinic was for a local middle school, with second for SOS Children’s Villages Florida. The third clinic was through a local faith-based summer camp.

Mure joins pickleball pros, educators and volunteers from Transworld and the community to teach the kids a new sport.

 

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“It was such a wonderful time. We even had a 2-year-old out there,” she said. “He really could hit the ball. I’m not a trained instructor, but I know how to play, so I am happy to be with the other volunteers and help run drills with the pros. It’s incredible to see the joy, and how quickly the kids take to it. Children need pathways to keep active and develop in healthy ways.

“It’s a natural connection, we just need to introduce them to the opportunity and give them spaces to keep playing.”

Mure wants pickleball become a core sport, starting with exposure in childhood, then extending through all stages of life. She feels having the right local infrastructure, as well as connecting the community, leads to success. She witnesses that formula working all over her native South Florida, where the pickleball community is growing and flourishing.

She wants everybody in the game to be advocates in their communities. She urges getting to know the local athletic directors at schools and government leaders to foster discussion about pickleball. Look for places to play.

Her persistence, combined with her passion for the sport, pays dividends.

“You need to be persistent, it’s not happening overnight,” Mure said. “Introduce yourself to people, come to the meetings, reach out with ideas and questions. Show them you are coming back again and again, and this is not a short-term thing. Be a partner to build community.”

Mure admits one of her more ingenious growing-the-game feats involves cracked pickleballs. Her trunk is filled with hundreds, earmarked for deployment during Cooper City’s annual Founder’s Day parade in early March. The pickleball group rides on top of a trailered and towed pontoon boat, and gently launches 600 busted pickleballs into the crowd as a happy gift.

That alone raised awareness about the sport and club, and has become a hit in the parade. A little boy caught one of the balls at the March 2024 parade and told Mure he wants to play.

Which is exactly what she wants to hear.

Joanne C. Gerstner is a veteran sports journalist and book author, with a focus on Olympic and Paralympic sports. She is a freelance contributor to USA Pickleball on behalf of Red Line Editorial, Inc.

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