Chris Kader recently announced that Peter Dorward and Krista Poppell have been named The Landings Club Pickleball Players of the Year for 2024. According to Chris, the award is given to the elite male and female picklers who, using a point system, compiled the best record during championship play. This includes Men’s and Women’s Doubles as well as the Singles Club Championships. Both Peter and Krista will receive coveted LGAC Crystal Schooners to add to their already burgeoning trophy cases.
Krista, a recent graduate of Georgia Southern with a degree in Criminal Justice moved to The Landings with her parents Chris and Sarah in July 2019. She has played pickleball since November 2021. Her DUPR rating is currently 4.5. According to Krista, “I am excited to be the female player of the year, especially with my good friend Peter with whom I ‘grew up’ in the pickleball world. We started playing 3.5 mixed together and have progressed rapidly in the last 2 years.” While not playing, Krista is babysitting, walking dogs or teaching our younger players in the junior academy.
Peter’s parents, Jeff and Tina, moved to The Landings in 2018 while Peter was studying engineering at Northwestern University. Peter followed in June 2021 and, at Tim Sampson’s suggestion started playing pickleball in January 2023. His current DUPR rating is 5.24, which is astounding given his relatively short time on the courts. According to Peter, “I am honored to be named the Landings Club Male Pickleball Player of the Year with my friend and mixed doubles partner Krista Poppell. It’s amazing to look back over the last two years and realize how far we’ve come in a short period of time.”
Peter, who worked for Gulfstream as an engineer, recently accepted an offer from Beta Technologies and moved to Burlington, Vermont. He quickly discovered a thriving pickleball community in the northeast. While he plays whenever possible in New England, Peter looks forward to occasionally returning to “this wonderful community that got me started in this incredible game with the funny name.”
Not too long ago, pickleball was thought of as a game for retirees. A non-pickleball playing friend once scoffed that pickleball was nothing more than mahjong for the elderly trying to recapture their glory days. He was wrong then and even more so now. Pickleball is now played on college campuses all over the country, and players under 24, who currently represent 21.7% of all players, appear to be the fastest growing segment of the U.S. pickle population.
On a separate note, in last week’s article about the Special Pops Tournament I inadvertently failed to mention medals won by Benny and Bianca Eicholz in their respective categories. Bianca won Gold in Women's 3.0 while Benny took Gold in Mixed Doubles 3.5 playing with Suzanne Olin. Congratulations, I’m sorry for the oversight.
Finally, don’t forget to register for the always fun Turkey Gobbler Round Robin, which will be played on November 28th.