|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
You may not realize it when you see Lily Azel, but she’s a big deal to pickleballers.
Azel is an Ambassador for USA Pickleball, the National Governing Body for the sport of pickleball in the U.S. It provides players with official rules, standards for the courts and equipment, tournaments, rankings and promotional materials.
So when Lily is at your event, she probably had a hand in making it happen either directly or indirectly. That’s because in her volunteer role since 2018, she is literally attending events all over with its 34 municipalities and parks, including the recent The Pickleball House Miami at JW Marriott in Downtown that included an appearance by the Miami Heat’s Udonis Haslem and the tournament at the landmark historic Big 5 Club in South Miami-Dade.
Lily is also engaging with Miami-Dade Commissioners to support their efforts to expand the number of pickleball courts that are available at public parks. She also is a player, who competed most recently in the US Open Pickleball Tournament in Naples, where 3,000 players over seven days played on 65 courts. With her mixed doubles partner, Lily won the silver medal in her division.
Lily only learned the sport in 2015 in Big Sky, Montana, where she lives in the summer. She had never played a competitive sport, but the avid mountaineer and rock climber picked it up quickly and fell head over heels in love with the social aspects of pickleball. But it soon dawned on her that she had to drive to Broward and neighboring counties to find courts. That’s when the bug to get more courts bit her.
King Mango Strut has been bit, too. A big contingent of pickleballers made their debut at the recent Coconut Grove parade. That tells you how big this whole pickleball community has gotten and how important Lily is to the sport.
So, say hello to Lily when you see her.
