CAS 4-10-1-2026 Geneva Olson-The Jar Pickleball Club-General Manager

April 10, 2026·26 min·2 clips

A racquetball diehard asks if pickleball can leave him drenched and whipped like his old sport.

Pickleball finally gets the radio treatment. Mark Ovenden starts with weather, a sponsor reset, and the admission that the racquetball guy used to write pickleball off as an old person sport. Now he is talking about it on air. That gives the interview a nice local-sports feel, because his own bias becomes the way into the bigger question: why does this game keep pulling people in? The Jar sits at the center of it. The guest says beginner lessons run three times a week, cost nothing, last an hour and a half, use two instructors, take sixteen people, and almost always fill up. That says more than any hype line could. People can joke about pickleball, but packed beginner sessions make the growth feel pretty hard to dismiss. Ovenden keeps measuring it against racquetball. To him, pickleball seems to leave more room for loose, social play, the kind where a husband and wife can knock the ball around without knowing every rule. The guest agrees. She describes everything from casual paddle and wiffle ball fun at the facility to players who push toward the pro level. Tennis gets some time, too. Asked about athletes crossing over, she points mostly to tennis, while also naming ping-pong, badminton, racquetball, and other sports. The pace stays easy. The best parts are ordinary: full lessons, new players, casual couples, competitive ceilings, and one racquetball player slowly giving pickleball its due. Then the show resets. After another sponsor block, Ovenden returns to the sunshine, the almost spring mood, and the weather swing before moving the program toward baseball. It feels familiar on purpose, like a Friday sports show letting pickleball, racquetball memories, weather, and baseball all sit at the same table.

As heard by us

A relaxed Friday sports conversation that makes pickleball feel welcoming and real.

Calling All Sports spends its first half on pickleball, and the case it makes is pretty straightforward: free beginner lessons, steady first-timer interest, and a mix of players that runs from casual hitters to former athletes from other sports.

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Why you'd press play

You want a Friday sports-radio hang that starts with pickleball and ends on baseball.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

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