SPEAKER_02: 0:00

Hi, I'm Shelly Mauer. And I'm Cher Emmerich. 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. Before we get started, we have something really exciting to share. Our book, Life Lessons from Pickleball, is now available on Amazon, and a portion of every sale is donated to Operation PaddleLift. Your purchase helps deliver paddles, nets, and resources to underserved communities around the world. Thank you for being a part of Growing the Game We All Love.

SPEAKER_03: 0:37

Now let's jump into today's episode. Welcome everyone to Life Lessons from Pickleball. We are so happy today to have Sandy Smith as our guest. Sandy, you have poured your heart into pickleball as a player, coach, referee, and community leader.

SPEAKER_00: 0:55

Sandy, you started playing in 2018 and quickly became an ambassador and PPR coach, teaching at the local YMCAs and park and rec programs. You later stepped into refereeing, earning your USA pickleball certification. You can see that USA pickleball you're wearing.

SPEAKER_03: 1:13

On your shirt.

SPEAKER_00: 1:15

And now serving as the referee training coordinator for the entire Middle States region.

SPEAKER_03: 1:21

Wow, that's huge. And you are also the president of the Macon Area Pickleball Club, which you helped grow from, I'm not kidding, 16 members to more than 100 members. Sandy, you play, teach, referee, and build community everywhere you go.

SPEAKER_00: 1:38

We're just thrilled to talk with you today. But before we dive into all the things you're doing, take us back. What was happening in your life when you were first introduced to pickleball?

SPEAKER_01: 1:48

First of all, thank you all so much. It's an honor to talk to both of you all. When I first I actually uh played pickleball five years before it came to RY, just because I was at another Y, and there were some ladies that said, come play with us. They didn't, I didn't really I knew the name of it, but they didn't tell me the rules. They just said don't hit it in the air from this area. I left there and I was like, I had fun, but went back to RY and forgot about it for five years. During that time, in 2016, I was diagnosed with uterine cancer and um underwent a hysterectomy. Then in 2017 I had chemo and then brachytherapy radiation, and so I had a port put in. And during that time I was also a fitness instructor and personal trainer at RY. So I always said that I get paid to be healthy. Well, during that time, I was one of the healthier cancer patients that they had, but um going through that, I I kind of gave up. I used to run, so I gave up doing half marathons and 5Ks, recreational tennis, um, bowling. I gave all that up because with a port, all that was pretty uncomfortable. Um, towards the end of 2017, when I started feeling better, I could teach a class again. And then I saw our why that they were playing the sport that I had played five years ago one time, and it was pickleball. Well, when I looked at them playing, I thought, well, the court's smaller, the paddle smaller than tennis, and even with the port, I might be able to play that. So I started watching a few YouTube videos because I didn't want to just walk down there and not know anything. So I watched some YouTube videos and then borrowed a paddle from the Y, walked down there, and the first thing the player said was, don't use that paddle. It was a wooden paddle. So they they took that paddle from me, handed me a graphite one, which was a big deal then. And I think I played every day from that first time I started. And when I look back and think about playing with a port, I was never really nervous. I probably kept my paddle up better than some people at that time because I wanted to protect my port. Um, but I had it in for two more years even after I started playing. So I always tell people, you know, if you're going through that, you can still play pickleball. Maybe not when you're actively having chemo because it and radiation wears you down, but it is something you can continue to play when you when you have a port. And so that's what was going on in my life when I found pickleball, or it found me.

SPEAKER_03: 4:50

My gosh. It found you. Well, very inspiring, Sandy. Very inspiring. And um, I know that there are many people right now who are experiencing living with cancer, and that information I know will be very heartening for them. Um, why did it hook you? So was it just because it was the one sport that you could play with the port, or was there something about pickleball that kind of hooked you?

SPEAKER_01: 5:18

Uh yeah, both. Um because I'd always played sports during my life. I mean, as a kid, softball, basketball, track, nothing that I would excelled a lot in, and I didn't go on to college and play, but I've always been competitive. So pickleball gave me another chance of playing a competitive sport because it's something if you want to play competitive, you can go on into tournaments and play. If you want to just play with your friends and do it socially, you can do that. But the community, and that's everybody that plays it says that, but it's so true. It's the community that you find in pickleball, and you can find your place. You know, if you want to be competitive, you can compete. If you want to just be not that you can't have fun competing, but if you want to just play, you know, with your friends, it's all-encompassing. So I think that's what hooked me was I could compete, I could get better, but I could also meet new friends too.

SPEAKER_00: 6:19

Well, Ian, like you say, the community is so important with pickleball. And I'm sure that when you had tough days with uh radiation chemo, I'm sure just for me, I know just looking forward to going and seeing your community or spending time with them helps you keep showing up, right?

SPEAKER_01: 6:35

Definitely. Um, I had made it through all my treatments, but I still was like every three months I had to have blood work done, and then it went to every six months. So even when every year I had to have, and I still have to have for the rest of my life colonoscopies, endoscopies, that kind of um treatments because I have Lynch syndrome. I don't know if anybody's ever heard of it, but it's a genetic mutation, and I inherited it from one of my parents, but both of my parents passed away when I was young, so I don't know which side of the family, but it makes me more susceptible to different kinds of cancer like uterine cancer, stomach cancer, um, colon cancer. So I get screened every year for it. So the community I have, whenever I have to go get a test, they will pray for me before I go to school. So that's another part of the pickleball community that that will reach out and do that for others.

SPEAKER_03: 7:36

That's huge. Many people who have experienced cancer say that it changes their sense of identity. Has it done that for you?

SPEAKER_01: 7:47

It's it's made life more precious, you know, because I had a friend tell me when I was diagnosed, don't Google too much, but she told me that too late. So I'd already Google that my my chances were 50-50 of my type of cancer. And my mom had died of cancer when I was young. So um what so uh surviving it just I mean, it does make you appreciate life and you try to let the little things go. You know, if I have a bad day playing pickleball, I'm like, it's just pickleball. You know, life's more important, you know, every day's more important. It drew my husband and I closer together going through cancer. Some people, you know, can't take it and they leave their spouse. Mine didn't. He he helped take care of me, he helped give me shots, and it just I can look back and say, I'm glad I had cancer because it made me who I am today and it drew us closer together.

SPEAKER_03: 8:47

Wow. Had you known that side of your husband before?

SPEAKER_01: 8:52

He's a very caring person, so yes, but um not to the extent of having to give me shots and I am scared to death in needles. But when I had my surgery, they said you have to have give yourself a shot every day for 30 days. And I said, I can't do that. That's I had my dad and stepfather were both diabetic, and they wanted me to try to give them a shot, and I'd get up to the arm and say, I can't do that. Well, my husband said, I've given cattle shots before, I can give you a shot. So, like, am I a heifer? But anyway. So he did. He for 30 days at home, he we alternated, you know, the leg, the hip, the stomach, and I counted down every day, and he did a great job. So yeah, it drew us closer.

SPEAKER_03: 9:48

That is really a lovely sentiment that such a painful experience, a long, arduous, painful experience has provided such gifts in your life, and that is uh actually very touching. It's very touching. My mom had lymphoma, uh Hodgkin's lymphoma, and it uh strangely allowed her to allow us to to come into her life in a way that she had been kind of protective up to that point. So, in a way, her cancer was a gift to me. Uh it and so I totally get this idea of how it can open our hearts in different ways. Yeah, thank you for sharing that.

SPEAKER_01: 10:37

And you have to keep your um your humor through it. Like when uh when I lost my hair, my husband said, Well, at least we know the chemo's working. And I'm like, Yeah, we do. Yeah, so there's yeah.

SPEAKER_03: 10:54

So there's the rainbow.

SPEAKER_00: 10:56

Well, and I love I love your hair now. I'm I'm thinking that's just like perfect on the pickleball court, too, right? You don't have to worry about it. It's easy. Yeah, I wash and go, and that's it.

SPEAKER_01: 11:07

I've tried to grow it out a few times, and it all just grows in one direction. It's just as weird, and I didn't get the chemo curl that some people get. So it's actually during COVID, my husband was able to cut my hair for me. So some things are a blessing.

SPEAKER_00: 11:25

Yeah, indeed. Indeed. So, what what part of pickleball helped you feel stronger, do you think, as you were rebuilding?

SPEAKER_01: 11:34

Um as a player, well, you when you start out as a beginner, you have a long way to go. It's the easiest sport to learn and the hardest to master. I'm not the first one to say that, but it's so true. I had such to see progress, I think that's what helps. You know, when you've always competed in something and you start out in a new sport, you have you can, you know, get better easily for a while, you know, and I think that's what I liked about it is I could continue to improve, and even now I continue, you know, there's things to work on. Um, I will never be in the senior pro circuit, but I just want to be the best me I can be.

SPEAKER_03: 12:17

What inspired you to be a coach?

SPEAKER_01: 12:20

Um, well, people were first they were always asking me rules questions because I'm one of the few people that actually read the rule book. So Which made you eligible to be a ref. Yeah. So I like, well, I was an instructor at the Y anyway, and a personal trainer. So I like watching other people develop and grow. So and I'd only been playing probably a year when other people were like, Well, I want to learn to play. So I was still kind of a beginner teaching other people how, but I knew enough more than they did that they would listen to me.

SPEAKER_00: 13:00

What's your favorite part about teaching beginners?

SPEAKER_01: 13:04

Well, watching them grow and and watching them laugh and enjoy it, and then as they get better, I just love watching other people enjoy it and get better too.

SPEAKER_03: 13:13

And then in 2022, was it you became a referee? Uh yes. We what did that entail?

SPEAKER_01: 13:22

Well, first during that time, um, they had an online class, which they still have an online video class that you watch, and then you go with a trainer and you go on court and they show you, you know, how to how to call the score, how to do the clipboard, what to watch for, you know, on the non-volley zone and the service foot faults. And a lot of people think all we do is just stand there and keep score, but there's a lot that goes on, you know, what you're watching, and then then when people want to argue things, how to you know de-escalate what they want to argue, and um so then you you go on court, and then eventually you're a trainee, and then you are assessed, so you have somebody that you actually um referee some matches and they assess you, and there's now there's a sheet that you have to be able to do, you know, everything on this sheet. Um, and then when you pass level one, then you get more experience and you're assessed again, and you have to do more things to do level two, and then after time, um, you eventually go on to on court evaluation, and if you pass that, you become a certified referee. So there's level one, level two, and then certified referee. And from start to finish, how long did that take? For me, it was 18 months. Um and it depends on the person. I know some people that have they can just go to a lot of matches, a lot of tournaments. The shortest amount I think I've heard is like four to six months, but that's because they were able to go to a lot. And one girl, I call her a girl, she's younger than me. Um, her mother referee too, so she was able to do a lot. Um, but then there's some people that four or five years it's taken them. So it's an individual thing, but for me it was 18 months.

SPEAKER_03: 15:17

I'm always so impressed when the refs are so quick in identifying foot fault at the kitchen. Um the clearly they're watching that line because it happens so fast. And wow, that's and of course, you're watching everything else that's going on too, right?

SPEAKER_01: 15:34

So we're supposed to be focusing on the non-volley zone. And as soon as if the ball bounces, you immediately look to the other side of the court because the fault's not gonna you look to where the next fault could take place. Uh-huh. So as soon as it bounces on one end or one side, then you just look to the other because that's where the ball's gonna go.

SPEAKER_03: 15:56

But yeah, seems like that would make you an even better player because we're always being told anticipate where that ball is gonna go so that you're there when it arrives. And I'm still having troubles with that one. But I can imagine after learning to be a ref, that is even better when you're playing on the court.

SPEAKER_01: 16:14

It does, it does help. Um, and I tell there's a lot of people say, Well, I might referee when I can no longer play. And I'm like, No, I still play and it makes you a better player. Plus, when you referee, you get to see top-level players. And I mean, internally, you never say anything out you know, out loud, but I'll say, Oh, that was a good shot in my head. I wonder how they do that one. And then you can learn new shots while you're refereeing too.

SPEAKER_00: 16:43

Yeah, what's some of a big misconception people have about refs? And you said one of them was we think they just stand there. But what are some other things? What's another big misconception that you think people have about refs?

SPEAKER_01: 16:59

Um, that they are there just to rule the court and have power, which is not true at all. We are just there to facilitate and keep people safe and um for fair matches. You know, we aren't there to be the policeman. We are there just to facilitate and keep you safe. You know, we don't I don't want to go out there. They've all I've always heard the best referee is the one nobody remembers.

SPEAKER_03: 17:27

Because then you have a yeah. I like that. It was seamless, seamless. So are you it seems like it's only the players who call a ball in or out. Do you do that as a ref as well?

SPEAKER_01: 17:41

Um, we are in charge of the service, you know, like the service line, short serves, and the non-volley zone. Players are responsible for all other line calls on their end of the court, including the center line on serves. But if they if somebody makes an out call, they can appeal it to us, and if we clearly see it, we can overrule it. But we don't call the baseline or the sidelines. That's the player's call.

SPEAKER_03: 18:08

When we serve, what's the rule about where the ball can bounce and where our feet can go when we're serving behind the service line? Can we step into the court? Does the ball have to be outside the court?

SPEAKER_01: 18:20

What's the it depends on which serve? If you're doing a volley serve, you know, your foot one foot can't be over the line. You as soon as you hit the ball, as soon as there's contact, then you can move into the court. Oh, which you normally don't want to. You want to serve and stay. Right. That's the teaching part of me. You want to serve and stay in case they return it deep. Um, but the drop serve, if you drop it, you can drop it on the court, you just can't step into the court to hit it.

SPEAKER_03: 18:52

After you hit. Oh, you have to wait till after you hit. So, what is the one rule you wish everybody knew? And you realize, gosh, so many people don't know this rule. What's that one rule?

SPEAKER_01: 19:05

The drop serve is a drop, it's not a bounce.

SPEAKER_03: 19:08

Uh-huh.

SPEAKER_01: 19:09

So many can't drop push it down. You can't push it down, you can't toss it up, let it drop. It's just a drop. And I see so many people that'll throw the ball down and serve it. And if I'm playing them, I don't automatically yell fault. I'll just say, you know, by the way, you know, that's not a legal serve. You know, I'll mention it to them in a in a game. I can't enforce it, but I will mention it. And most people will say, Oh, I didn't know that. I didn't realize I was doing that. So yeah. And what you may ask if there's a pet peeve. The score is zero zero two. That's how we start. We don't start zero zero start or zero zero, let's go. So zero zero start is not the way to do. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00: 20:02

My pet peeve is good. Someone says love love too. I've had people play tennis with tennis. They say tennis. Yeah. That is my pet peeve when they bring tennis onto the pickleball court.

SPEAKER_01: 20:13

I was just gonna say when they say the ad and the you know the ad court when they come into pickleball, I'm like, no, we don't have that. Or no man's land. There is no no man's land in pickleball. It's the opportunity zone or the transition zone, not no man's land.

SPEAKER_03: 20:29

Gotcha.

SPEAKER_00: 20:30

I like that. I'm just learning how to play in that opportunity zone. That's a tricky one.

SPEAKER_03: 20:38

Taking those opportunities and not putting them into the net.

SPEAKER_00: 20:42

I was gonna say it must be hard refining when you see somebody call a ball out that you saw was obviously in, and there's nothing you can do about it. Right?

SPEAKER_01: 20:54

That's when you have to keep keep your face, you know, just yeah, you have to I don't play poker, but it would be a poker face. You just can't say anything until the player, you know, says, Did you see that? Then you can call it. But yeah, it's internally I go, Well, that was out, but just internally. Yeah. Or if they the opposite, you know, the ball the ball was out and I go ahead and play it. I'm going, well, that was out, but you played it. But I didn't say that was out loud.

SPEAKER_00: 21:29

Right, right.

SPEAKER_03: 21:31

Otherwise they would remember you well. Yeah, I don't want that. You don't want that. No. Uh when you're coaching, are there certain things that you see just over and over and over that if we all could learn that one whatever, we would be even better players.

SPEAKER_01: 21:51

Return when you're the receiver, return and get to the line. Because so many people, and I think it comes, I'm not picking on tennis players, but they're not used, they're used to you know hitting the ball and staying back, but they have to learn to return and run. That's I tell people if you don't return and get up there with your partner, people are not gonna want to play with you.

SPEAKER_03: 22:16

Ah, good point.

SPEAKER_01: 22:17

Because otherwise you're up there asking, where are you at? Where are you at? Get up here. And so that's the one thing. If everybody would do that, at least you know, when they're starting, and then get make it a habit, I think that would help a lot of people.

SPEAKER_03: 22:33

That's good. I often get intimidated. I know it's gonna be a really hard hit back to me, and so I'll stay back for that really hard hit, and then I stay back for that next one, and then I stay back for that next one, and that's not what I'm meant to do. It's return and run. Return and run.

SPEAKER_01: 22:50

If you turn it, if you turn it to the right place, they're not gonna be able to hit it hard back to you.

SPEAKER_03: 22:55

Good point. If I do a nice drop, oh, that's great.

SPEAKER_00: 23:00

But then the hardest thing to unlearn is when you're then when you're on the serving side to not just run up right away, right? That's what I'm really learning now, how to slowly work my way up. Because in the beginning, that's what I was doing on the serving side too. It was just running up. And then as the people you're playing get better and better, you can't do that. You have to learn to move your way up slowly. So it's hard to let it first to remember that. Think about really thinking about it.

SPEAKER_01: 23:28

That's why you do the serve and stay.

SPEAKER_00: 23:31

Serve and stay, return and run. Return and run, serve and stay. I like that. Yep.

SPEAKER_03: 23:35

Brilliant, brilliant. So, in all of your adventures, including your cancer journey and your time on the court and being a coach and reffing, what are some life lessons that you've gleaned that you can share with us?

SPEAKER_01: 23:54

Um I think we have more in common than we have different, you know, like on the court, we're not Democrat, Republican, Christian, non-Christian. Um, we're all equal, we're all the same. And I think that's one thing, you know, that pickleball has taught me is you know, we're just all we have more alike than we have different.

SPEAKER_03: 24:20

Yeah, boy, if we could just get everybody playing pickleball. Yeah. Everywhere, every city, every county, every country, wouldn't that be an amazing place? I know the Global Pickleball Federation is working really hard to make that happen. Um, we you you may know what we've just published the book called Life Lessons from Pickleball. In fact, it's right here. Life Lessons from Pickleball. And it um it is a like synopsis, each page is a synopsis of one of our guests, their story, and then the life lesson that they shared. So you'll be in book two. And um, and this book is the kind that you open it up and you and any given day, and you can read the life lesson. This is what Shelly does. She reads the life lesson, and then that's her life lesson for the rest of the day. And that life lesson you just gave us is going to be my life lesson for tomorrow. I just I really love that. Yeah, we are more similar than we are different, and the pickleball court is the one that it's where everything is equal. It doesn't matter our ability, physical ability. I'm blind in one eye, I can still re see the the ball, and uh Shelly is a rock star player, and yeah, it's just so so wonderful.

SPEAKER_01: 25:49

It is and financial too. You know, you can you can be a doctor, you can be an electrician, you can just anything, you know, and or you know, a stay-at-home mom, um, most important job. I was never one to me. That's the most important job. Anyway, you can be a stay-at-home mom, you can be a dentist, no matter what, you know, we're all out there, we're all equal.

SPEAKER_03: 26:17

Exactly. Exactly. I I lost train of thought when I was mentioning the book. The whole point of this mentioning the book was that it supports um Operation Paddle Lift. So I was saying we're trying to get the game to go all around the world. Well, Operation Paddle Lift is a nonprofit joint project between the Global Pickleball Federation and Pickleball for Good, those two organizations. They deliver free paddles, balls, and nets to communities underserved all around the world. So, and we're seeing this incredible shift in cultures and communities and the coming together, like you said, all these different faiths, different tribes, different political bends, all coming together all around the world. I mean, come on, is there any other game that can do that? I don't think so.

SPEAKER_01: 27:17

And the ages, um eight years old and eighty plus years old can be on the court together. You know, that's and that's what I like about the future of pickleball, that average age has gotten younger. And I've seen that in our community, um, our club does round robins, and during the summer, as soon as our round robins are over, like at eight o'clock, the young people, the high schoolers have made the courts their new hangout for a good reason. They come and they play pickleball now, and so seeing the young people just gives you hope that it will continue to grow.

SPEAKER_03: 27:52

Oh, yeah. Much better than the mall.

SPEAKER_01: 27:55

Yes, for ride riding around, going to parking lots and other things like that.

SPEAKER_03: 28:01

Oh, that's very cool. So, Sandy, how can people find you and follow you online?

SPEAKER_01: 28:08

Um, well, I'm on Facebook, Sandy Rumsey Smith. Um Spell Rumsey. R-U-M-S-E-Y. That was my maiden name, Sandy Rumsey Smith. Um, I'm I don't do I'm on Instagram, but I just kind of follow other people. I don't post a lot. They could probably find me there. Um, or email Sandy Rumsey. It's r-umzsmith at gmail.com. So if anybody has any questions or is going through cancer treatments and wants support, I love helping other people. Um, it used to be before cancer, I would say, oh, I'm sorry, I'll pray for you. Now I hear it, I'm like, what can I do for you? So they can reach out that way too, and I'll do what I can to help.

SPEAKER_03: 28:59

That is wonderful. We're so grateful that you came on the show, Sandy, that you shared your story. Very inspiring. Love that you're refing. We need this beautiful, open-hearted people reffing our game and spreading it around the world. And thank you so much for everything you're doing for this sport and for everything you're doing in life with your beautiful open heart.

SPEAKER_01: 29:24

Thank you all very much.

SPEAKER_03: 29:26

Yeah, thank you. And thank you all. Oh my gosh. Yeah, my gosh, thank you for tuning in, everyone. And um, yeah, use this wonderful inspiration of open-heartedness and seeing the positive, even when things are looking kind of down. There are people who are wanting to share their love for you, and you can find that on the pickleball court. So thank you all, and we look forward to a new conversation next week. Bye-bye.

SPEAKER_00: 29:56

Bye-bye. 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.

SPEAKER_03: 30:10

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.