Resident hosts 80-and-up pickleball tournament

Wendy Harfiel, pictured, and teammate Rip Clearly won Saturday’s men’s doubles pickleball 80-and-up tournament at Rohan Regional Recreation Complex. The event was not an official PCVG event.

 Submitted photo

As Mike Maguire was on the pickleball court, as he so often is, he realized he was at a disadvantage. Not because his opponents were cheating or because he had worse equipment.

It was something he couldn’t control — his age.

“I have about 50-60 people that I play pickleball with and about 90% or 95% of them are 10, 15, 20 sometimes 25 years younger than me,” said Maguire, 79. “So it ain’t easy. It ain’t easy being old.”

Maguire, of the Village of Buttonwood, plays pickleball at five different recreation centers in The Villages. But for him, he wanted to play more often with more people his own age. So he started his own tournament.

On Saturday at Rohan Regional Recreation Complex, Maguire put together a men’s doubles pickleball tournament for anyone 80 years old or older. Maguire himself is 79, but the tournament was open to anyone who turns 80 in 2021.

Read this story and many others in Tuesday's edition of the Daily Sun.