Prime Living: Aiken resident Chris Powers reaches lofty pickleball perch
Aug. 17—She's logged plenty of mileage, over the decades, in equestrian and tennis competition, and Chris Powers has now reached a pinnacle in pickleball, at age 64.
She now holds the top spot in the sport among women in her age category (60 and up) in mixed doubles — the classification in which one man-and-woman pair competes against another.
Powers, who is also an instructor, picked up the sport in 2017, having been exposed to it while pursuing tennis at Woodside Plantation.
That included some time with local banker Josh Booth, who was polishing his game with a pickleball partner in pursuit of a national title.
"I watched them play, and I said, 'That's what I want to do,'" Powers said. "So I just started playing; and I started taking it very seriously, training with the best pros around country, started doing tournaments and ended up doing pretty well."
The sport, which has its roots in the 1960s in the Pacific Northwest, is sometimes described as a combination of tennis, badminton and table tennis.
It is sometimes described as "the fastest-growing sport in America," and Aiken-area players have several options in terms of playing sites, including (but not limited to) Woodside Plantation, The Reserve Club, Cedar Creek, Gem Lakes, Gregg Park Civic Center, Houndslake Country Club, Eustis Park, Smith-Hazel Recreation Center, Riverview Park Activities Center and Virginia Acres Park (for outdoor play) and its famous feature, Odell Weeks Activities Center (indoor).
A major tournament, the Palmetto Indoor Doubles Pickleball Invitational, is on the near horizon, to be held at Odell Weeks, Sept. 9-11.
"It's fun, and it can be a little bit rewarding," she said, acknowledging a recent tournament victory that included a first prize of about $550.
Recent travel included such destinations as Michigan and Minnesota, and Colorado is among her August destinations.
"You can travel as much as want in pickleball." She cited an August weekend that included at least 20 locations, spread around the country, with pickleball tournaments taking place.
She also recalled her pre-pickleball athletic history.
"I've ridden horses my whole life, and I never had much success at horse showing; and I played tennis my whole life, and while I played in national championships, it wasn't a very good outcome, so now I found this sport where I am ... actually having success, and it's rewarding. It's so much fun. We talk about pickleball being 'family,' and it really truly is."
Her husband, Robert Caporale, died in January, and Powers pointed out that she has found abundant support through her pickleball pursuit.
"Getting back out on the courts and being surrounded by my friends all around the country has helped me so much," she said.
She added, "I play and I play and I play, and then when I'm done for the day, I break into tears, and then I get up the next day, and I play and I play and I play, and then the grief comes back; but I find that with a lot of people, we all kind of realize, we don't know what's going on in everybody's lives, but we all have a tremendous amount of respect for each other, and we do call each other 'family.'
"Pickleball is the perfect sport for older folks. It will keep you fit," she said. "It will keep you moving, and that's what they all say — the experts. If you're moving, you know, you're pretty good; and I'm probably, at the age of 64, more fit than I've been since high school."
The sport, she said, is also a hit with plenty of people from a generation earlier, including her son, Tyler Wuerfel.
"They play 'lights out,' and they have such a blast ... I play with my son in pickleball tournaments, and he is 34, and so I have to play down an age, with 30-year-olds. I'm twice as old as everybody I'm playing against, and my son and I are successful."
