Pickleball Lifted Lisa Lee-Bruns Up When She Was Down, And Now She’s Headed Back To Nationals
Lee-Bruns won her division in two Golden Ticket tournaments in May.
By Alex Abrams - Red Line Editorial
A few years ago, Lisa Lee-Bruns was bedridden and in a dark place as she battled a serious health issue that took a toll on her mentally and physically.
She couldn’t walk, let alone play tennis like she had before she got sick. She also didn’t have much to get excited about and desperately needed to make some changes in her life.
Among the many changes Lee-Bruns made was playing pickleball for the first time, which led to a stark shift to her health.
“Pickleball saved my life, honestly,” said Lee-Bruns, a 53-year-old auditor from Louisville, Kentucky. “I met my significant other playing pickleball. I met a great friend group playing pickleball.”
Lee-Bruns showed no lasting effects from her traumatic past as she hit shots and scored points during her singles matches at a USA Pickleball Golden Ticket event in Greensboro, North Carolina, in late May.
She expressed gratitude for everything that she has gained in the three years since she started playing pickleball after a friend introduced her to the sport. With help from the sport, she said she’s reclaimed her life and is having fun again.
“My life has changed so much,” Lee-Bruns said. “Going from a traumatic experience to such a dramatic change, it’s just been a blessing.”
Lee-Bruns made the seven-hour drive from her home in Louisville to Greensboro to play in the Golden Ticket tournament. Her primary goal was winning a doubles medal with her friend, Alex Shearer, which the duo achieved by winning all three of their matches at the tournament.
Since Lee-Bruns had some free time, she decided to enter one of the women’s singles divisions as well.
Lee-Bruns had already qualified for the 2025 USA Pickleball National Championships at a Golden Ticket tournament in Cincinnati on May 10. But she continued to play well inside the Greensboro Complex and held on during a tough final match to win another gold medal in her division.
This is the second consecutive year that Lee-Bruns has qualified for Nationals, having competed at last year’s tournament in Mesa, Arizona. Even though things didn’t go as smoothly as she would’ve liked at Nationals, she admitted she “had a ball.”
“I learned a lot by playing last year, and this year I truly hope I’m going to do better,” said Lee-Bruns, who’ll celebrate her 54th birthday in August. “I’ve come a long way in my life, and I’m hoping I do better every time I step out (onto the court).”
Lee-Bruns started playing tennis when she was in her 30s. She loved the sport and played it for five years before she got sick.
Lee-Bruns preferred to not go into detail about the health issue that affected her for at least 10 years. But she said it led to her temporarily losing the use of her legs and becoming bedridden.
“The doctors really couldn’t put it all together,” Lee-Bruns said. “They found this and that, but regardless, I was in a situation that I was unhappy (in).”
Lee-Bruns said she eventually made a conscious effort to work on herself in order to improve her health. She started following a strict diet, and her condition gradually improved.
Once she regained her strength and was able to walk again, Lee-Bruns considered getting back into tennis until she learned about pickleball.
“I was going through a life change, and I hadn’t played tennis in almost 20 years,” Lee-Bruns said. “I thought, ‘Well, I’ll pick it back up.’ And a friend of mine mentioned pickleball. I asked her, ‘What’s that?’ And the rest is history.”
Lee-Bruns played pickleball for the first time at around age 50. She said she “started from nothing” and has worked her way up.
The sport has since become a “lifestyle” for her. On top of dramatically improving her physical and mental health, she first noticed her significant other, Greg, on the pickleball court.
Like Lee-Bruns and many of the other athletes who competed in Greensboro, Greg played tennis before he picked up pickleball later in life. She was initially drawn to his skills on the pickleball court.
“I liked the way he played and wanted him to show me how to play better, and then here we are,” she said.
All thanks to pickleball.
Alex Abrams has written about Olympic and Paralympic sports for more than 15 years, including as a reporter for major newspapers in Florida, Arkansas and Oklahoma. He is a freelance contributor to USA Pickleball on behalf of Red Line Editorial, Inc.
