Motivated by Fear of Failure
By Matthew Schwartz
June 23, 2025
Peter LoCascio started and runs the popular Facebook group, Pickleball for Seniors
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Peter LoCascio had ADHD and dyslexia as a child. “My fear of failure that was constantly predicted and easily touted to my parents and friends by most all my teachers, inspired me to someday prove all of them wrong,” LoCascio says.
He proved them wrong. After a career in the display business and corporate marketing, LoCascio was able to retire at 42. That was 38 years ago.
“I met a young man who started a software company in his garage who needed the advertising, marketing and sales skills I learned from working at various corporations. Having no revenue at the time, he couldn’t offer me a full-time job so we agreed on paying me 10% of gross sales instead. The software he created at OrCAD Systems [a software suite used for electronic design automation] I soon learned was wonderful, and after figuring out how best to market and sell it, I accepted founder’s stock in addition to a generous salary. The company went public in 1996, adding to my buyout revenue I acquired at age 42 in 1987 when I left the company.”
LoCascio discovered pickleball eight years ago in Salem, Oregon (he lives in West Salem). He had been working out in a gym on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays and was looking to exercise on Tuesdays and Thursdays. The gym offered pickleball on those days.
“I fell in love with pickleball and began playing indoor every Tuesday and Thursday and giving lessons to newbies on Wednesday afternoons. I now play recreational 3.5 level pickleball Monday, Wednesday and Friday,” LoCasio says. “I love recreational pickleball because it’s something I can do that combines everything that is now extremely important to me. My physical and mental capabilities as an 80 years young man are challenged yet attainable. The friendships I’ve created with other seniors and younger players are cherished. And the overall importance of feeling relevant and inspired to improve and enjoy the game are some reasons to get up every day excited to be a senior pickleball player.”
On Valentine’s Day 2024, LoCascio started a Facebook group called Pickleball for Seniors. It now has 20,000 members.
“I started Pickleball for Seniors because I realized how important the game and its benefits became to me and I wanted to share it with other seniors,” he says. “A particular dramatic experience for me was at the gym on a Wednesday when I gave free pickleball lessons. A heavyset senior broke down in tears after playing her first game. When asked if there was anything I might help her with, she smiled and announced, “I can do this.” I said, ‘Yes, you can,’ and at that moment I realized how important pickleball could be for some seniors who might have given up on physical and mental exercise. The game is easy to learn, play, and enjoy, and the thought of seniors getting off the couch, out of the house and building new lasting relationships playing pickleball thrills and motivates me to no end,” LoCascio says.
LoCascio is a Jersey guy originally. He grew up in Bergenfield, less than 20 miles from New York.
“We lived on a dead-end street and behind our house was a park where the neighborhood kids played baseball, basketball, football and stickball,” LoCascio says. “I also played organized PAL baseball and basketball but was not very good at either. I was an active independent kid who enjoyed many different kinds of friends. In summer I mowed lawns, in the fall raked leaves and winters shoveled sidewalks and driveways to earn spending money. I played drums starting in 7th grade and was always in a garage band.”
When LoCascio was 12, his father needed help at his job. Joe LoCascio worked in the display business, designing, constructing and servicing exhibits for trade shows, museums and corporate showrooms.
“I asked him what I would do for my $1.50 an hour and he responded by informing me that I would do what I was told, and if I had nothing to do to pick up a broom and sweep up the art department where he worked,” LoCascio said.
LoCascio fell in love with the business. He worked in it for many years and eventually became a corporate marketing executive for big companies including Memorex, Kawasaki Motors and Tektronix.
He was retired for 30 years before discovering pickleball. He spent most of those years in the woods, literally.
“In 1990, we moved to a 50-acre tree farm estate in Manning, Oregon where we had over a million board feet of Douglas Fir timber and quickly realized the trees were worth more standing than sending them to the mill,” LoCascio says. “The logging costs and taxes associated with cutting and sending the logs to the mill wasn’t worth it to us. My wife Claudia went to Oregon State and earned her credentials in master wood management and we decided to manage the forest and not cut it. My occupation there was to thin the forest, cut and stack firewood which we donated to local charities and generally maintain the overall wellbeing of the property.”
Now he’s out of the woods and often on the pickleball court and his Pickleball for Seniors Facebook page.
His goals for the group? “To inspire, educate and motivate seniors all over the world to get up, get out of the house. And start playing and enjoying the pickleball experience because, you can do this, yes you can.”
So Peter LoCascio is still, in a way, in marketing. Except now he’s marketing pickleball, where joy is on display.
Thoughts of the week, not all pickleball
· Before the NBA Finals, I picked Oklahoma City to beat Indiana in five. The Thunder won but it took seven games. In the NHL Finals, I picked Edmonton to beat Florida in seven. The Panthers won in six. This is partly why I stopped gambling years ago.
· Two weeks ago I asked pickleball players to send me the rudest or most unsportsmanlike incident they had seen on a court. I didn’t include mine so here it is. Three years ago, the community center where I often play had separate play session times based on ability. Players rated 3.5 and below were playing from 9 a.m.-11 a.m. My foursome started a game at 10:50 and included a woman who is a 4.0. She wasn’t following the rules but we were okay with it because all the other 3.5 and lower players had gone home. At 11 a.m. with her team ahead, 7-4, she walked off the court, saying, “My friends are here.” She quit on us. I approached her on the side and quietly but firmly told her, “That was rude of you.” She shrugged and walked away.
· After waking up lately and doing my daily stretches, I’ve been placing three ice packs on sore spots: Upper and lower back and, some days, behind my right knee. Anything to be able to play that day. I have tried many pain creams and none have been as effective as good old ice.
· I usually believe in the saying, “You get what you pay for,” but not always regarding paddles. I have hit with some $250-$300 models that play no better than $100-$150 paddles.
· One of the many current cellphone scams is a text message from someone supposedly gauging your interest in a “high paying job.” Usually they say what field the job is in. I got one this week from someone asking if I would be interested in a “great job.” No mention of what type of work. How does the sender know if anyone is qualified without even hinting at what field the supposed job is in? I deleted the message and reported it as junk. Legitimate companies don’t seek job applicants via vague text messages.
Remember, if you buy any Hudef paddle that costs $169.99, use my discount code MS30 to knock down the price by 30%, to $119.99. Any less expensive paddle, the code is MS15, giving you 15% off.