She became a 54-year-old pickleball pro 5 years after her first lesson. Here’s how

Five years ago, Kelly Stroble attended a holiday dinner with her husband at her friend’s Sarasota home and received an unexpected gift — a first lesson in a burgeoning sport that would become a professional passion.

Her friend, Joann DeMartini, showed them a pickleball court in the backyard and how to play the game. After a month, Stroble was playing in tournaments. One gold followed another and within a few months, Stroble had three tournament titles and a runner-up finish in mixed doubles.

She was hooked.

“So after that, you become addicted,” said Stroble, who partnered with Gavin Thomas in those early mixed doubles tournament wins.

Stroble, a 54-year-old Bradenton resident, is in her rookie season in the National Pickleball League , the country’s first professional association for players of the popular sport who are 50 years or older. She’s a member of the Oklahoma City Punishers, one of the 12 teams in the NPL.

Athletic background

Growing up in the Huntington Beach and Westminster area of California, Stroble played softball. She played on the United States national team before it was an Olympic sport and college softball at Florida State University.

After college, Stroble and her husband Tim started a family and relocated to Maryland.

“I needed something,” Kelly Stroble said. “So I picked up tennis.”

Stroble picked up the sport easily, but she said she stopped after her kids activities started taking over.

About seven years later, one of her tennis partners in Florida mentioned having a pickleball court in her backyard.

It was DeMartini.

Along with DeMartini, Stroble said her first mixed doubles partner, Gavin Thomas, and her main mixed doubles partner Eric Kennedy are the key people in her pickleball journey.

“I’m forever grateful (to them),” Stroble said.

Path to pro pickleball

As Stroble was getting hooked on the sport, COVID-19 struck. However, DeMartini let a small group, which included Stroble, to continue practicing on her backyard court.

It led Stroble to where she is in 2024, a pro sponsored by Engage Pickleball, Centerline Athletics and Civile Apparel.

“I just have that competitive nature and I still feel I have more room to improve,” Stroble said.

Beth Bellamy, Michael Chen and Rick Witsken co-founded the NPL in 2022. Stroble had played against Witsken in the past.

“He signed me and said, ‘I want you to play in this league,’” she said.

Stroble said she didn’t play last year, because her mom got sick.

But on the eve of this year’s U.S. Open in April, the OKC Punishers drafted Stroble. The season started in May and runs monthly events leading into October’s finale. The monthly events are held on weekends, with practice sessions on Fridays and matches on Saturdays and Sundays.

The next tournament is July 19-21 in Cincinnati, Ohio.

“There is nothing out there like the NPL for seniors,” Stroble said. “It’s just amazing. To me, coming from softball and that being a team sport, this is right up my alley.”

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