b'Early Ages - 8th Grade Kent Heacock, co-founder of the N&K pickleball group, serves the ball in a game with Paula Reese and others at Maplewoods DeHart Park.(severallocationsincludingCha- Kent Heacock and Nancy Morelli. tham and Montclair). Public courts,They reserve courts for two sessions likethoseinMaplewood(Waltereach weekend morning on the pub-ParkandDeHartPark)andSouthlic courts in Maplewood. They have Orange(TheBaird)aregenerallya group on the TeamReach app, in free, though only local residents canwhich you can sign up to play or join reservethem.Withprivatecourts,thewaitlist.(Therearemorethan60 years of Experiential, Hands-onfees range from around $12 for open200 members, so it books up fast!) play to $100 or more for a privateIts great! Its a lot of fun. If you lesson. everplayedtennisorpingpong,Learning, Creativity & IndependentIf you download the CourtReserveyoull pick this up right away, Hea-app, you can book time on one of thecock says. Thinkingpublic courts in Maplewood or signWhen VinnieandIwereready up for court time or classes at Pick- to get started, I reached out to Anne leballPalaceandCentercourt.TheMandell,aneighborImetwhile public courts in Maplewood all havewalkingdogswhoIknewplayedScan to QR codes outside of them so you canpickleball. (She also works for Mat- Learn Moredownload the app and book on theters.) Mandell and her husband PeteDiscover the Co-op! spot. play with the N&K crew nearly ev-eryweekend.They alsoplaywiththeir sons.Sheinvitedus to come and watch a game a few days later. Whilewewere standingoutsidethe court, Heacock came right up to us. He ex-plained the group and asked us whether we wanted to play. N&K Players practice their dink shot in a lesson with pro Aliciarotatesbeginnersin Reed at Pickleball Palace. the mix, so more ex-perienced players take There are groups that are welcom- turns playing withand teachinging for beginners and players of allnewcomers.Gamesmovequickly.Schedule a tour today!levels, such as N&K, which is runThescoringsystemisdesignedtowww.montclaircoop.orgbylongtimeMaplewoodresidentsavoid a shutout, so it really gives all feature story /19'