Life Lessons from Pickleball™
Meet Shelley and Sher, the dynamic duo, who found more than just a sport on the Pickleball court - they discovered how Pickleball was weaving its magic, creating connections, boosting confidence, and sprinkling their lives with amazing joy. Inspired by their own personal transformation and the contagious enthusiasm of their fellow players, they knew this was more than a game. Join them on their weekly podcast as they serve up engaging conversations with people from all walks of life, and all around the world reaching across the net to uncover the valuable Life Lessons from Pickleball™.
Life Lessons from Pickleball™
E50: Jim Lopez: Kirkland's Deputy City Manager & Pickleball Champion
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JHow can pickleball help build community, create flow, and even shape the way we think about leadership and civic life?
In this episode, Jim Lopez, Deputy City Manager for External Affairs for the City of Kirkland, Washington, shares how his work in public service, law, communications, and civic engagement connects with his growing love for pickleball. Jim talks about his role in city administration, what it means to help a community feel informed, heard, and connected, and why creating spaces for belonging, communication, and collaboration matters so much in local government. He also gives a fascinating behind-the-scenes look at what the Deputy City Manager for External Affairs actually does, from economic development and diversity initiatives to arts, tourism, library support, and public engagement.
Jim also opens up about how pickleball became part of his life, why the sport immediately appealed to him as a tennis fan, and what he loves most about the game: fun, fashion, and flow. He reflects on the growing demand for pickleball courts in Kirkland, how cities are thinking through the challenge of meeting that demand, and why pickleball has become such a powerful source of community, health, connection, and joy. Along the way, he shares one of his favorite life lessons from the court: sometimes you have to take a step back to take a step forward, whether that means learning soft shots in pickleball or slowing down in life to build something stronger over time.
This is a thoughtful, upbeat conversation about pickleball, Kirkland, public service, community engagement, city leadership, local government, tennis, civic connection, flow, strategy, healthy aging, and the life lessons that remind us growth often starts when we are willing to slow down, listen, and play the long game.
📘 Our book Life Lessons from Pickleball™ is now available on Amazon
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A collection of short, true stories from players around the world about community, resilience, and joy through the game of pickleball.
A portion of proceeds supports Operation PaddleLift, through the Global Pickleball Federation, distributing paddles, balls and nets to underserved communities around the world.
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Introduction to Jim Lopez
Speaker 1Hi , I'm Shelly Maurer and I'm Cher Emrick . Welcome to Life Lessons from Pickleball , where we engage with pickleball players from around the world about life on and off the court . Thanks for joining us . Welcome to Life Lessons from Pickleball . Everyone we are thrilled to have with us today Jim Lopez . Jim , you are the Deputy City Manager for External Affairs at the City of Kirkland , Washington , our home base , and Shelly and I recently had the fun opportunity to be on your podcast this week in Kirkland , along with your terrific podcast team , Kate , David and Nate , and we absolutely had a blast .
Speaker 2We did too . We've already got the band back together .
Speaker 1Jim , we learned on your show how passionate you are about the sport of pickleball .
Speaker 2Love pickleball .
Speaker 1But before we get into that , tell us what the Deputy City Manager of External Affairs
Role of Deputy City Manager
Speaker 1does .
Speaker 2Yeah , I mean as I say every week on our podcast , I am one of two deputy city managers at the city and my purview is more external facing . So I'm the deputy for external affairs and we have a deputy for operations and together we work to run the city manager's office for our city manager , Kurt Triplett . My purview is like civic engagement and communications , economic development , diversity and belonging . I have the arts commission and the tourism and development committee and the library board , so it's a lot of how we communicate to the community and how we listen to the community . And I also run the city manager's office , so I kind of serve as the city manager's chief of staff as well . So I have that internal function . So there's it's a it's a full day .
Speaker 1I know we we mentioned that we're going to ask you about your job , so you had to take notes .
Speaker 2I took notes . That is a fact . I was like let me write a few of them down . I don't want to leave a line of business out .
Speaker 1So what inspired you to even get into this business of working in city administration ?
Speaker 2That's a wonderful question . I am a lawyer and I practiced law for many years . I'm originally from the Boston area and , um , I really , uh , really appreciate and love the idea of um communicating and advocating and kind of being in the the you know the battle of ideas and and and that kind of evolves into like trying to do things for the betterment of society and and I felt like my skills had evolved to the point where I would like to be in the public square , you know making policy and talking to folks about that and really doing the , the important work of trying to listen to the different perspectives and synthesize those perspectives and try to come up with something that improves the quality of life for folks and enhances the level of public engagement .
Speaker 2You definitely do that and you are so well suited because , you're an awesome communicator and so much fun exists is try to try to both give folks information about the city , much needed information what's coming up this week , what's coming up at council , what you might want to tune into but do it in a way that promotes a sense of community , Meeting wonderful people like you and your cool podcast , and how much you love and care for the community . I think it helps build a space where folks feel more comfortable to learn about the city and then contribute to the city .
Speaker 1And , I think , to learn in a more fun and interesting way too . And now we know who we go to if we want more pickleball .
Speaker 2That's right . I have no doubt that that will be a consequence of wonderful . One of our pickleball episode is , you know , there's a huge demand for courts .
Speaker 1And .
Speaker 2I'm in that line too , by the way .
Speaker 1I love being a good pickleball court . How did you first get introduced to pickleball ?
Jim's Pickleball Journey
Speaker 2You know , cher , I thought about that , uh , for the show , and I know I played years ago , you know , before it was kind of an emerging , you know , professional sport and loved it . Um , I had a wood paddle and and then , but flash forward to just a few years ago when it was really taking off across america . I can't remember the minute that it came into my world , but I started watching it on YouTube and I'm a big tennis fan . I grew up in the John McEnroe era love , love , love watching and playing tennis and I just took to it . I just started watching all the tournaments and got to know all the professional players and it became a passion .
Speaker 1And where do you know it ? You felt like you were playing , just like them . Yeah , yeah , well , yeah .
Speaker 2So the barrier for me ? I was a pretty good tennis player , I had a big forehand and my barrier was the serve . I just , you know , every once in a while I could hit a good serve , but not consistent enough and there was still a lot of work and don't have that problem with pickleball , so you know the serve is meant to go in .
Speaker 1Right , exactly . You're not trying to win the game with your serve .
Speaker 2So I was like this is a sport .
Speaker 1I could spend a lot of time with Very fun and do you play often ?
Speaker 2You know I go through phases Through the winter . I wanted to get on the court more indoor . It was just harder to find time . So definitely I play more . When the weather is nice I try to get to . Everest and I've played up at our Houghton Park and Ride a lot and I play on tennis courts , you know , even though the net's a little higher . So you know recently a little bit more , but I'm looking to ramp up when the weather gets nice .
Speaker 1Cool , and so is there any planning around more courts in the Kirkland area ?
Speaker 2Yes , there
Kirkland's Pickleball Court Plans
Speaker 2absolutely is . A couple of things are going on the school districts , I think at Kirkland Middle School and Finneal Middle School . Maybe I can follow up with information . I think they're striping the courts for pickleball .
Speaker 1Oh nice . Yeah , so that striping the courts for pickleball , oh nice .
Speaker 2Yeah , so that will provide a lot of good access and you know we have the four courts up at the Houghton Park and Play . It's very popular and we are making plans because those are temporary . Yeah so we are making plans to put courts in um when we make that transition and one of the areas that I absolutely love , by the way and um is definitely in the mix is right downtown , by the basketball court in the skate park .
Speaker 2Uh , yeah , making one of those tennis courts , like everest turning it into three courts . And you know , you have that nice hill and you can walk up and head over to this wonderful shops over at Kirkland Urban . So yeah , hang on .
Speaker 1Hang on , and are you able to talk about what the plans are for the Houghton area ? Yeah , or is that still kind of QT ?
Speaker 2Well , no , no , not at all the contrary . The principal option right now is to cite the Seattle Kraken hockey iceplex there .
Speaker 1Wow .
Speaker 2Yeah , so we've been working with the Kraken and I don't know if it's going to happen .
Speaker 2It's still not an agreement , but we do have an RFP out to see if builders are interested and the Kraken , if the Kraken is interested and I know they're working with at least one other jurisdiction , but right now that is that would be . The most likely scenario is we put a the ice flex and that would come with a beautiful 12,000 square foot recreational center for the community . Yeah , and we would get that as part of the deal . In other words , the Kraken would build out what we call a warm shell and our proposal is to do tenant improvements as well , certain of them , and we even have on our website , which I can send you a link to , images of the community center . It's desperately needed the idea of more space for people to come and meet and enjoy each other . So that's the big idea right now for the park and play . But stay tuned on that because it's a fluid situation .
Speaker 1You bet , will there be pickleball courts inside that structure ?
Speaker 2Unfortunately . No , it's really utilitarian space . It's just beautiful rooms and visual areas , but we got our eyes on the pickleball . We know that the demand is there , so stay tuned on that as well .
Speaker 1Nice and having you so passionate about pickleball , that helps a lot . Yeah , oh yeah so passionate about pickleball . That helps a lot . Yeah , yeah , oh yeah yeah , because I was gonna say the popularity of pickleball has really created challenges for all city managers , I'm sure , yeah , I mean it's um .
Speaker 2The game itself has this wonderful community aspect to it , right ? Yeah people play pickleball in big numbers and and you know of . Of course there's singles too , but I think for the most part you're playing doubles , right ? Is that your experience ?
Speaker 1Yes .
Speaker 2And you know you get the lines of people waiting and you talk and it's really become a really nice way to share your experiences with the community . And yeah , so it's , it's , it has multiple levels of benefit . You know , one of the challenges is that it's loud .
Speaker 1Yes , it is which is what we love about it , but neighbors don't necessarily love it .
Speaker 2It's got that magnificent sound that you know . You know you're in the game , but it's not so magnificent for people around the courts and we acknowledge that . So part of the planning around where to site pickleball has to include those considerations .
Speaker 1You bet , you bet . So you have so much on your plate , I mean , when you start identifying all the different areas that you're responsible for , not to mention even just running the office . What are some of the most important projects that you have been a part of that you're really proud about or you're excited about ?
Major City Projects and Initiatives
Speaker 2Yeah , I mean I have you know , going way back . I worked on our . I started at the city as the human resources director . I came from Washington DC . I worked in the Obama administration , kurt Tripple and I went to graduate school together , so we've known each other for a while .
Speaker 2He's our city manager , so you know I've had an enormous , a broad diversity of really cool things to work on , and one of them was designing our health plan , where we cited a employee clinic , a near-site clinic , so we call it the Consumer Driven Medical Home Care , and so I'm very proud of that . It's our plan designed to this very day , flash forward . Now I've been in this office since 2018 , I think it's 2018 , I think and I've worked on many , many public-facing projects , the most recent of which are the .
Speaker 2I'm working very closely with all of our efforts to meet the generational challenge of homelessness . I'm the lead person on the IcePlex , so I work directly with the Seattle Kraken on all of those negotiations and you know I've had a lot to do with how the city continues to build and make important relational connections to our community to enhance our ability to be a belonging community , which I think we very much are . So I've had a lot of just amazing things to work on . I'm very proud of and I'm just so proud of the city . I think it's the best city in the country and I just in large measure because of the people that live here .
Speaker 1I agree with you on that one , Jim .
Speaker 1I totally agree with you on that , and I hope people come and visit and come and stay . What I'm impressed with , I've actually started watching the meetings of the city council . Never was interested After I met you , Jim , and learned about your podcast , which is so much fun to watch , and I actually really enjoy watching those city council . They have the video online and so I'm able to learn about it . I see all the different people . I'm so impressed with the number of people who are actively making kirkland a wonderful place to live and I have been remiss in not being involved . I'm going to become much more involved thanks to your inspiration k .
Speaker 1Kate's , dave's and Nate's , I mean , you all are just very inspiring and yeah , it's something that , for most of us , we can just sit back and enjoy or critique or take part in or not take part in , and no skin off the nose , as my dad would have said . But then there are those of you who are putting in blood , sweat and tears and making this place and a lot of laughter , and making this place an amazing place to live , and I'm just personally very grateful to you .
Speaker 2Well , that just absolutely made my day because , thank you so much . I mean full stop . It is really our hope
This Week in Kirkland Podcast Impact
Speaker 2and really very intentional actions to do that Like we want people to feel like . First you have a relationship with the government and the people of the government so that you feel comfortable and safe and empowered to come and talk to us about the kind of community that you want to live in . And that's taking all ideas . You know you have to really embrace all the different perspectives and then if you can figure out how to create a space where those conversations sometimes not easy conversations can happen in a way where people , everybody feels heard , then you know you're doing great things for civic , civic society , civic life , and that's our goal . And you know it makes me feel especially good because we rolled the dice with the podcast . You know we just said we're going to do something creative , we're going to try to have these communications from a different angle and hearing your response and how we've connected is the kind of feedback we were hoping to receive .
Speaker 1And I actually want to put it out to everyone else around the country , around the world , that it's such a great idea for governments to step down from this pedestal that we usually hold you all up on and to relate one-on-one and your podcast this week in Kirkland . By the way , this week in Kirkland your podcast is so much fun . The first maybe 10 minutes or so is about what's going on locally and , honestly , even people across the country would get a lot out of that information because it can give them ideas on what they could be doing in their own cities , Right . And then you interview people like Shelly and me , but also others . You just had a Danny Marie , who's helping people from all different fields in entertainment . She helps them fulfill their dreams . And then you also had Aaron Goldsmith . Is it Goldsmith ?
Speaker 2Yes .
Speaker 1Who is that ? Mariner's sportscaster .
Speaker 2Yeah , he was so much fun .
Speaker 1Oh my gosh , and you guys are a hoot . You and your team are absolutely hilarious , and so it's just a fun way to get information about what's going on locally , but also to get to know the other people in our community . I hope every city does what you're doing . I think it's fantastic .
Speaker 2You know it's interesting we're trying to get . Thank you so much , I mean that's our goal .
Speaker 1That is our goal .
Speaker 2We got a text Like we're trying to get . We're asking folks to text in the show and give us ideas . We got a text from a person saying thank you so much for the podcast . It makes me feel safe oh , that's sweet , isn't it ? It's really sweet , yeah to meet your civic leaders and all the wonderful people that contribute to the community the guests and hear them in a fun , you know slightly irreverent way where we're just trying to , you know , have a conversation .
Speaker 2It , you know , it makes you feel more connected and to hear that kind of feedback . Really , it really , uh , touched true , it really makes you feel approachable right , that's right .
Speaker 1Which makes people feel safe . Yes , yeah , that's excellent , which isn't the case always .
Speaker 2Yeah , right .
Speaker 1So back to pickleball
The Three Fs of Pickleball
Speaker 1. When we were on your podcast , it was so fun . You had your three Fs of pickleball . Do you remember those ? I love those . Okay , you are three .
Speaker 2Fs of pickleball . Do you remember those ? I love those . Okay , we have a total connection . We didn't practice this right . I did a little homework . The three things that I talked about were flow , the state of flow . I think the game is just easy to learn but very difficult to master , you know . Yeah so it puts you in this enjoyable state right off the bat . Then the next thing I personally think is you get to look great . Sorry , but I love me a good tennis outfit , which is now a pickleball outfit , basically .
Speaker 2The fashion , the fashion . That's right . That's F number three . And then the last one of course I had was the community . It's just such a social game . It's easy to understand how it's taking off because it's a place to go to meet folks and get on a text chain or listserv and you know meet up and you know just learn about who your neighbors are .
Speaker 1Just fun . I love that . Fun fashion and flow . Fun fashion and flow .
Speaker 2Fun , fashion and flow .
Speaker 1And your three are . Our three are joy , empowerment and community , and they line right up with yours . If I'm in joy fashion . If we have the right outfit on , we're empowered right .
Speaker 2What is fashion if it's not empowerment ?
Speaker 1And so , with all that you've been doing in your political life , your administrative life , in your communications and playing pickleball , have you come across some life lessons that either you've learned on the court that you use in your life , or lessons that you learned in your life that you find yourself using on the court ?
Jim's Pickleball Life Lesson
Speaker 2Yes , and I absolutely love , love , love this as the thesis of your show , thank you . I just want to say that , thank you . You know , finding insight wherever you can is a lifelong passion and endeavor right .
Speaker 1Indeed , indeed .
Speaker 2Okay , so my life lesson , which is not an original thought , but definitely a thought that resonates with me , is sometimes you have to take a step back to take a step forward .
Speaker 1Say more about that .
Speaker 2So in pickleball , this is my experience in pickleball , so it becomes pickleball to life , right For me .
Speaker 1Yeah .
Speaker 2So I came into the game of pickleball with a really , you know , strong forehand , topspin forehand . I came up in that kind of era when the game was I don't know , maybe it was before , but big topspin was coming in . You know the big wind up and there is a certain level of pickleball where if you hit the ball really hard that you're gonna win . Like if you're out there , I think , with you know folks that are kind of learning the game uh , I was and you come in and you just have a lot of brute force , hit it hard , maybe he'll topspin on it . You're probably going to prevail over someone of that level . Not so much with the better folks . They're like hit it harder , come on hit it harder and they'll just have you running all over the place .
Speaker 2You know , especially in doubles , right , I guess in singles the game is evolving , it's a little bit different . So in order to get better , I had to stop , and so that meant I was going to lose my advantage over folks at the beginner level , which was my level , and I've played more since and I consider myself to be a reasonably good player . Now you lose that advantage . So now , in order to get better , I had to take the speed off the ball . I had to get the ball in the kitchen . I had to learn those very difficult shots that have a trajectory , they kind of loop up and they're very touch shots and then it gets you into the net . You know dinking the ball drop shot . Third shot drop right .
Speaker 1Yeah , yeah .
Speaker 2Third shot drop and that's what gets you in the game with the higher level players , at least in my experience for sure so the lesson was you know you gotta , even though it might be attractive in the short term , to keep hitting the ball hard , you're not going to grow in the long term . So there's probably other areas in life where , if you reflect on that sometimes you have to , the skills that you need for the long-term growth might be not the same skills that you have for short term .
Speaker 1Oh , I love that A life lesson . I love that A life lesson . I love that . In fact , that's part of what our coaches my coaches , trying to teach us is have a strategy . Don't just hit the ball . Have a strategy why you're hitting the ball , the way you're hitting it , where you want to hit the ball . Be intentional in every moment , whereas powerballing , you just hit the ball as hard as you can and just hope they don't get it back .
Speaker 1So I love that Step back from what we typically would do and make sure it's really what is going to take us in the long run to where we want to go .
Speaker 2You've said it better than I . No , I didn't ?
Speaker 1I just made a few words out of that really wonderful explanation .
Speaker 2Good on you . Yeah , sometimes the easier thing isn't necessarily . Maybe sometimes it is , but sometimes it isn't the thing that's needed in the moment , and I love your thought about the thinking strategically you know you got to take a minute and assess what's needed in the moment .
Speaker 1Yeah .
Speaker 2Yeah , that's my life lesson or my pickleball lesson .
Speaker 1I leave it to others to extrapolate .
Speaker 1It's your pickleball lesson that you're taking into life , and I will too . I love that , jim . This has just been a hoot . Yeah , you are a very busy guy and , as you said , even today you are chockabuck full and we are so grateful that you took this time to talk with us . And please say hi to Kate , david and Nick . Oh , I will , and we just had so much fun . And again this Week in Kirkland is your podcast , and we hope people all across the country will listen . You'll have a blast listening
Closing Thoughts and Farewell
Speaker 1to that show .
Speaker 2Oh , thank you .
Speaker 1And support your cities and if you're in Kirkland , support the city of Kirkland . Oh , thank you Because there are a lot of people like you doing incredible work for us .
Speaker 2You too , are absolutely wonderful . Thank you so much , it's been a joy .
Speaker 1Thank you , jim , and thank you all . Oh , my gosh , what fun . And thank you so much for tuning in today and , as they say , in this Week in Kirkland , don't forget to like , subscribe and share . Like , subscribe and share .
Speaker 2Thank you so much .
Speaker 1And we'll look forward to another conversation next week . Bye , bye , bye . Thank you . If you love our podcast , we'd be so grateful if you'd take a few seconds to follow or subscribe to Life Lessons from Pickleball . This ensures you'll never miss an episode and helps us continue these wonderful conversations . On Apple Podcasts , spotify or wherever you listen , go to the show page and tap the follow button in the top right corner , and on YouTube , click the subscribe button under any of the episodes . Thanks so much . Hope to see you on the court .