In the early 2000s, Pat Sullivan – a Royal Oak resident who wintered in Arizona, learned to love a silly little game called pickleball. Determined to bring her new passion home with her, in 2010 she convinced her city to allow herself and a group of local volunteers – with monetary support from the federal government’s community development block grant program, a Home Depot grant, and City of Royal Oak assistance – to convert two dilapidated and unused tennis courts into what is now the Whittier Park Pickleball Complex.

In the years after Pat and friends got pickleball up and running in Royal Oak, her Royal Oak Pickleball Club hosted an annual summer adult tournament, numerous summer and fall ladder leagues, various adults’ and children’s lessons, children’s tournaments, clinics with nationally rated pickleball players, daily drop-in play, and more. In 2014, the club used proceeds from its tournaments and other events, plus more city assistance, to convert a second set of tennis courts into the Upton Park Pickleball Courts, nearly doubling the club’s ability to provide frequent and diverse events to its growing membership.

In late 2015 / early 2016, the Royal Oak Pickleball Club was granted nonprofilt status by the State of Michigan and 501(c)(3) status by the IRS, and it formally transitioned to be the Southeastern Michigan Pickleball Association. Since then, SMPA’s membership has grown to include more than 500 players! SMPA continues to proudly advance Pat’s vision of promoting and creating pickleball opportunities – through programming, player development, and court installation both in Royal Oak and throughout Southeast Michigan – to further spread what she called the “seeds of fun”, and to grow a strong, healthy community of happy and fun-loving pickleball players.

Today, SMPA is the pickleball programming partner for the city of Royal Oak, providing 100% of court and equipment provision and maintenance at both the Whittier and Upton park outdoor pickleball courts. SMPA offers many pickleball leagues plus approximately monthly pickleball mixers and tournaments from April-October annually in Royal Oak to raise the funding for the courts and equipment; these events use the courts <20% of the time leaving them available for drop-in play the remaining ~80% of the time. SMPA then partners with local tennis clubs and other venues during the Oct-Apr indoor season to provide additional leagues and mixers to our ever growing membership. If you use the Royal Oak pickleball courts or the park johns SMPA provides, please JOIN SMPA by donating $25 to help us keep the courts functional and available for all – thank you!!

Interviewee: Frank Fedel
Interviewees: Deb Standerfer and Frank Fedel
Interviewee: Frank Fedel

In celebration of National Pickleball Day on 8/8/23, SMPA board member Heather Siersma coordinated with Fox 2 News to discuss and showcase pickleball! Thanks to SMPA president Frank Fedel, SMPA volunteer Deb Standerfer, SMPA board member Pat Kent, SMPA member Michelle Guzzo, and former SMPA member Kelly Chlebek for playing with Fox 2 and talking to anchor Erica Francis for these segments! This is the second time in the past two years that Heather, SMPA’s immediate past president, has been able to showcase SMPA on local television. 🙂