Her Daughter Introduced Her to Pickleball — One Year Later She Won Silver at Nationals
3 min read · RealCase summary
Tanya Ford, who immigrated from Russia in the late 1990s and recently retired from a community development role with the City of Grand Rapids, discovered pickleball just over a year before her national medal — starting out through YMCA classes after her daughter bought a set of paddles. "I never heard about this sport," she said. "My daughter said she purchased paddles for pickleball."
In the summer of 2025 she entered her first tournament, the North Regional Championship at Belknap Park in Grand Rapids, sweeping bronze in mixed doubles, silver in women's doubles, and gold in singles.
She went on to win silver at the 2025 US Senior Pickleball National Championships in Florida. "I want to be good in what I'm doing, and I want to win," she said, though the speed of her rise still surprises her: "It's never truly (sunk) in." She credited Belknap Park's courts specifically, calling them "the best courts in the state of Michigan."
Key takeaways
- ›Discovered pickleball roughly a year before her national medal, introduced to it by her daughter
- ›Built her game through YMCA classes and regular practice at Belknap Park in Grand Rapids
- ›Won gold in singles, silver in women's doubles, and bronze in mixed doubles at a summer 2025 regional championship, then silver at the 2025 US Senior Pickleball National Championships
Original source
Read the original (Fox 17 West Michigan)
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