In the early 1970s, Pat Heurtin was attending a conference as a high school health and physical education teacher. While she was there, she noticed a group of people hitting a plastic ball back and forth over a net with wooden paddles. It looked something like tennis, or maybe badminton—but the rules were clearly different. Heurtin knew that whatever it was, she wanted to bring it back to her students.
That was how Heurtin became a pickleball coach … fifty years before it became the hottest sport in America.
Now 84 years old, Heurtin just marked a decade since she brought pickleball to St. Francisville through the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI)—which offers a range of classes, from the arts to history to athletics and more, specifically designed for people fifty and older.
Heurtin and her husband became members of OLLI’s Feliciana Chapter early on, eager to connect with other retirees who weren’t done learning new things. “We are both retired teachers,” she said. “So, we enjoy learning, and loved the idea of meeting people in the community who also like to learn about what we are interested in.”
Years into her membership, Heurtin received a call from the OLLI at LSU advisory council—which had learned about her experience as an educator. As the organization grew, it had begun to expand its class offerings based on the expertise of its members, and they wanted to know if she would be interested in teaching something health-related. Aerobics, they suggested—but Heurtin wasn’t up to date on her certifications for aerobics.
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Paddleball with OLLI at LSU. Instructor Pat Heurtin at bottom row, far left
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Paddleball with OLLI at LSU
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Paddleball with OLLI at LSU
“What about pickleball?” she asked. The sport, she knew, was an accessible and fun way for people of all ages to stay active—offering the benefits of low-impact cardio and agility training, as well as mental stimulation, without the risks or difficulties of more rigorous activities.
And, it’s an intimate, social sport. This, Heurtin has observed, is one of the most important benefits of OLLI as a whole.
“There are so many people, as they get older, who are just lonely,” she said. “They lose their spouses, or get divorced, and their grown children are busy raising their families. It’s so important as we age to have people who share our interests, who can keep us company, and who we can just have fun with.”
OLLI’s pickleball team now counts as one of the Feliciana chapter’s most popular offerings, with hundreds of people taking part across the years. Heurtin, who now acts as coordinator under an instructor, said that often participants have never even played a team sport before. Recently, she had a 94-year-old woman taking part. “People really enjoy it, and they often surprise themselves,” she said.
“It’s been wonderful for me, too,” she went on. “Because still, at my age, I love to teach. I love it. I love to see the light in my students’ eyes come on when they finally get it.”
Learn more about OLLI at LSU course offerings, including its pickleball class, at ce.lsu.edu/olli.
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