The Franklin Reporter & Advocate Eight Villages, One Community
The township on Nov. 5 made its mark in the pickleball world with the inaugural “Battle of the Paddles” tournament at Sampson G. Smith School.
The event, sponsored by the township’s Recreation Department and Onix, a pickleball gear manufacturer, drew 30 teams from as far away as Maryland, Delaware and Pennsylvania, said Dan Reeve, the township’s superintendent of recreation.
Each team was comprised of two players, he said. Competitors played in seven brackets: men’s and women’s doubles, men’s and women’s 65-plus, mixed over 60, mixed under 60 and the 3.0 division.
Play was double-elimination, and winning teams would play up to seven games.
The event was organized by Joe Camiolo of Hillsborough and the recreation department’s Gloria Fidecaro, Reeve said.
Camiolo said that he works and plays pickleball in Delaware, so he promoted the event down there.
“There are probably upwards of about 300 pickleball players in the township,” Reeve said.
Tennis courts at Inman and Castleton parks have been painted to accommodate pickleball games, he said.
“We’ve developed a whole community of pickleball players in the township,’ said Joel Reiss, one of the competitors. “It’s the fastest-growing sport in the country.”
He said that many of the players come from the township’s several active adult communities.
Reeve said that some Franklin Township players recently participated in the Senior Olympics.
