The Villages - May 2008 - (Page 30)

Some competitors practice all year for the games, while others may just turn up for their events at show time. Others enter the Games for the ﬁrst time and see what they need to do to be competitive the next year, and work towards that goal. Take pickleball players Pam Napoletano and Val Busch. Last year, the duo entered the Games after just a few weeks of preparation. “After I moved here in January of 2006, I started playing pickleball. I had played tennis years ago,” said Pam, a resident of the Village of Country Club Hills. “Val and I started playing pickleball together in April. We hadn’t played much together, but we did well in last year’s Senior Games and were looking forward to this year.” The two worked hard together to be ready for competition in the 50-54 age group. Just as the pair were getting their game together and the games approached, fate stepped in. “We took fourth last year, and we had improved over the year. We thought we had a good shot,” said Val, a resident of the Village of Santiago. “Then, I fractured my ﬁnger. I was playing softball, and I had the ball all lined up and it took a bad hop. It deﬂected off of my right hand instead of my glove hand and got me on the ﬁnger.” What happened next deﬂated any plans Pam and Val had for winning the gold. “They operated on my ﬁnger,” Val said. “I’ve got pins, screws and wires in it.” If Pam were going to compete, she had to ﬁnd another partner. In stepped 53-year-old Cathy Eichelsdoerfer, from the Village of Woodbury. The three ladies were all friends from playing in the local softball league. “I heard Val would not be able to play and Pam needed a partner,” Cathy said. “I called Pam and told her I would play.” Time was against the new partnership getting together for much practice, and the beginning of the Games came on the heels of the softball playoffs, which limited the practice time for the new twosome even more. “We practiced together for the ﬁrst time Tuesday and Wednesday and played on Friday,” Pam said. It would be a storybook ending to say the pairing of Pam and Cathy led to a gold medal, but reality doesn’t always have a happy ending. In the end, the lack of practice did the pair in, and they were eliminated in the ﬁrst round of play while Val stood on the sidelines cheering the team on. “She (Cathy) is left-handed, and that was a big transition for me. I have never played with a left-handed partner,” Pam said. “Val and I had played together so much we knew what the other was going to do. Cathy and I had never played together, and we didn’t know what the other could do.” In the end, the story was about a friend stepping up to help try to keep a dream alive. “For the little bit of time we played together, I think we did a good job,” Pam said. Now, thoughts have already turned towards the future and other Senior Games. “We’ll get them next year,” Val proclaimed. 30 MAY 2008

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of The Villages - May 2008

The Villages - May 2008 Contents Latin Dancing Makes for Fun Fitness Making Graceful Moves in the Water Students Create Culinary Ecstasy in Pizzas Summer Plants and Flowers Brain Exercises Shopping & Dining Guide Retail Briefs Entertainment Briefs Major Events Snapshots

The Villages - May 2008

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