By Gina Clance, contributing writer
Footprints. We leave them everywhere we go. Some footprints can be seen with our eyes — like when we walk in the snow or sand. Some cannot be seen — like in our hearts and memories. Bob Smith, and his passion for staying active and helping others, leaves footprints on pickleball courts and in the hearts of his neighbors and teammates.
Smith, who recently turned 90 years old and has captained ALTA tennis teams for 67 seasons, has picked up the hottest sport around and is helping people learn the game of pickleball. He shows no signs of putting down his paddle any time soon.
“Pickleball is easy for tennis and ping pong players to pick up,” he says. “It is just enough exercise. It is competitive, but it’s fun, too!”
After spending 32 years as an analytical chemist, Smith and his wife of 68 years, Marti, retired to the Atlanta area in 1991. Since he has been an active person all his life — having played softball until spinal surgery ended his time on the diamond — Smith found ALTA right away and picked up a tennis racquet. He jumped on the pickleball wagon in 2013 and is now captain of his Loch Highland B level ALTA team.
“Bob introduced me to pickleball a little over two years ago, and it has changed my life,” said teammate and neighbor Gregory Taylor. “Bob’s game is amazing, and no one underestimates his abilities on the court. He is a great neighbor and friend. He is someone we all should strive to be.”
Before ALTA had a pickleball league, and before clubs and neighborhoods around Atlanta had pickleball courts, Smith and his neighbors used chalk to draw pickleball lines on their tennis courts. After more people got interested, they moved to painting lines by hand. Finally, they got permission and collected money to have the lines professionally painted onto their courts.
Along the lines of the “Field of Dreams” mantra, “Build it, and they will come,” with proper court lines at Loch Highland and access to equipment, more people started showing up to learn from Smith.
People of all ages come to play with Smith’s groups. He is on the court four or five days a week, teaching, coaching, and playing the game he loves. To make sure the courts are full, Smith texts dozens of people a day to see who wants to play. He said he has about 300 pickleballers in his phone contacts! He is always looking to add more.
“I met Bob two and a half years ago while walking my dogs and watching him play pickleball,” said teammate Mindy Rokosz. “He came over to the fence and said, ‘Want to learn pickleball?’ and I said ‘sure!’”
Several of Smith’s “students” agree his strengths include extreme patience and encouragement. “I did not have a tennis background, and Bob quickly taught me the game and enabled me to compete on his team for the last two seasons,” Rokosz said. “He acknowledges your strengths. He is an inspiration to us all!”
According to another teammate, Mark Rudel, Smith was one of the founding members of the Fuller’s Park Pickleball (Cobb County) in 2014. Rudel gives Smith credit for his love of pickleball. “Bob is the consummate gentlemen, teacher, and community friend,” Rudel said. “He’s also a student of the game and an advocate for dozens of people who would not have picked up the fastest growing sport in America.”
What is Smith’s secret to his longevity on the court? “I stretch, stretch, stretch every morning,” he says. “And I have good genes, too! A lot of this game is footwork. You have got to be careful!”
Why does he love pickleball so much? “It’s the people really,” Smith answered, looking out at about a dozen people playing pickleball. “These people are like my kids.”
If passion is what keeps our days interesting and helps people leave footprints along life’s paths, Smith’s love for people and pickleball will certainly leave plenty of footprints on the courts of his journey.
