The pickleball community in the Palm Springs area recently suffered a great loss in the passing of Maureen Miller-Nielsen. Maureen and her husband, Stan, are pickleball heroes who took a chance on pickleball and, working with the mayor, created the first public dedicated pickleball park in Cathedral City, California. The pickleball club that they started began with just 3 people and it now boasts over 400 enthusiastic pickleball players. We wanted to re-air this first ever episode of our popular Pickleball Channel show, “I Heart Pickleball,” that features Maureen and Stan and the amazing work they have done to grow the sport.
We also wanted to share information about the Canadian charity close to the heart of Maureen. The Terry Fox Foundation is an organization which funds cancer research and one Maureen was very supportive of. Pickleball Channel will be making a donation in her honor because of her devotion to the sport of pickleball. If you would like to consider donating as well and honor Maureen with a gift, please visit www.TerryFox.org.
Since this video was made in 2014, Stan and Maureen continued to be champions of the sport in their local community, Outdoor Resorts Palm Springs. They worked tirelessly with the other members of the Outdoor Resorts Palm Springs Pickleball Club to petition the community to put in new pickleball courts. A few years ago, the resort added 7 courts including a shade structure and this summer they added 6 more courts with lighting for a total of 13 beautiful courts for their residents to enjoy. The community in turn decided to honor Stan and Maureen by naming the courts the Miller-Nielsen Pickleball Courts!
The Pickleball Club, with Maureen and Stan at the helm, 
has continued to be a dynamic presence. They hold the Can Am Pickleball Tournament for those in their community every February, which is a 3-day tournament and dinner with over 200 participants. They have pickleball play daily, and their club keeps continuing to grow. This month alone they taught 77 new players in the month November!
But more importantly than just building pickleball courts, Maureen and Stan created a family all those years ago. Speaking with members of their community, it is evident that this pickleball family is there for each other whenever anyone is hurting or needs help, and they have shown to Maureen in particular that they are with her until the very end.
What is even more amazing is that we hear this kind of story all over the country as other Pickleball Heroes like Stan and Maureen champion the sport, start pickleball clubs, and build or re-purpose courts, helping to spread pickleball exponentially, and creating pickleball families all over the world! Watch this inspiring video and then take the opportunity to say thank you to the “Stan and Maureen” in your pickleball community today!
More about Outdoor Resorts Palm Springs: Outdoor Resorts Palm Springs is a 5-Star RV Resort and Country Club. The resort sits on 137 beautifully landscaped acres with golf, tennis, swimming pools, a fitness center, a full-service restaurant, a convenience store, two club houses and, of course, pickleball! Learn more about this stunning community at ORPS.com.
Places to Play in Palm Springs: Palm Springs has multiple clubs in the area that would love for you to join them on the court! Find more places to play in the Palm Springs area at www.places2play.org.
Special thanks to Stan and Maureen Miller-Nielsen, the Outdoor Resorts Palm Springs Pickleball Club, Ted & Cindy Wilson, and Bob & Alisia Foyle.
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The California desert is redefining the relationship between pickleball and tennis! Watch another episode of I ♥ Pickleball and hear how ambassador Chris Thomas worked with the City and local tennis clubs and resorts to grow pickleball in the greater Palm Springs area…and pickleball is exploding! Hear directly from the pros who run the tennis and pickleball programs at three major country clubs about how their tennis communities have embraced pickleball. They’ve seen their programs flourish, and the resorts have built a unique relationship that the entire country can model. Watch today!
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