By Matthew Schwartz
June 3, 2025
How many times have you said or heard someone else say, “Pickleball changed my life?”
So it’s not surprising that a pickleball group on Facebook is called Pickleball Changes Lives. A good name, and so true.
Its co-founder uses the screen name “Pickleball Rich,” and is an interesting guy.
Walsh visited Cape Town in his native South Africa in March.
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Thirty-five-year-old Richard Walsh is a South African native who lives in Santiago, Chile, has been an English teacher in that South American country, and in Thailand, South Korea and Argentina. He’s been a personal trainer, fitness instructor and sports massage therapist who studied sports science and marketing.
“I started Pickleball Changes Lives [in late 2023 with co-founder and Chief Writer Matthew Callcott-Stevens] because I noticed a change in my personal life, using pickleball as a therapy and an easy way to make new friends and socialize more after the pandemic,” Walsh told me. “I quickly noticed that most people feel exactly the same way, no matter if they are kids or retired.
“I got into pickleball randomly. I was playing padel and tennis with friends and noticed people playing this sport. I asked what it was and they invited me to play. I had the time of my life and the rest is history.”
Walsh says while growing up in the coastal city of Durban, South Africa, “I played every sport under the sun. I played cricket, hockey, rugby, football, tennis, I swam, played ping-pong, golf. My favorites were always golf and tennis.”
Pickleball Changes Lives has nearly 8000 members, is growing fast and Walsh has big plans for it. He is starting an ambassador program in which pickleball players from all over share their stories and write reviews.
In short, if you’re a pickleball player with a good story to tell about how pickleball has changed your life, or want to review a product, Walsh wants to hear from you. If you’re interested in learning more about being an ambassador, email Walsh at pickleballchangeslives.com.
“The ambassador program is a way to continue spreading the love for pickleball, having ambassadors in different areas, doing Pickleball Changes Lives events, getting beginners out there, reviewing pickleball related products for brands.
“Pickleball brands reach out to me all the time for reviews, and I want our ambassadors to review products in a non-biased way, getting the opinions of many people,” Walsh says.
More non-biased reviews would be welcomed, because there are a few reviewers who seem to think every paddle is terrific and rarely say, straight out, that a paddle is bad or poorly made. Exceptions to this include Chris Olson, John Kew, Braydon Unsicker and Dustin Fowkes.
Walsh works in social media and marketing for a pickleball paddle company. His girlfriend, Daniela, is a dentist. He says she’s into pickleball but doesn’t get to play much due to work. Walsh says he is a “3.5-4.0” player who also doesn’t get to play as much as he would like to due to a lack of courts in Chile. He has to drive more than a half-hour to the nearest court. He’s working with local governments to try to add more courts. “Padel is the [most] popular sport here and pickleball is just getting started. The courts are limited to higher income areas for now and need to get into the center and lower income areas to really kick off,” Walsh says.
Walsh doesn’t like the trend in pickleball towards more bangers. “Not a huge fan because I love the chess-like strategy that you need in pickleball. I was a very good tennis player growing up and was successful because of the variety of [shots] I used.”
He also wants to work on solutions regarding the noise problems pickleball has created in many neighborhoods. “I don’t like how pickleball noise is creating a divide in communities and even lawsuits, that’s why I’m passionate about innovative companies making quiet equipment to help solve the problems.
“My long term goals for Pickleball Changes Lives is for the brand to be a movement that everyone knows about, going to less fortunate communities to share the game and give these communities hope where there wasn't before, getting people out of their shell, doing specific events for different social categories that enhance the lives of each person through the sport.”
Pickleball has indeed changed countless lives. It changed Richard Walsh’s life. Now he and his Facebook group are changing lives, one new pickleball player at a time.
Thoughts of the week, not all pickleball
· The Tesla cybertruck is the ugliest car I have ever seen. This has nothing to do with Elon Musk or politics. It has everything to do with what in my opinion is a hideous-looking vehicle. Yes I know, beauty is in the eye of the beholder, so if you love yours, enjoy it.
· The three-part Netflix documentary on the search for and killing of Al-Queda leader Osama bin Laden is riveting. Two of the many great quotes in the doc come from Robert O’Neill, the Navy Seal who killed bin Laden in Pakistan: “We’d accepted death, but it’s nice to live.” And, “How the f- - - did I get here from Butte, Montana?”
· How many sports fans can name three active heavyweight boxers?
· I don’t care who wins the Stanley Cup but I will watch every game between Florida and Edmonton. I hope it goes seven and predict the Oilers will win it in seven. I think they’re determined to get revenge after losing to the Panthers in seven last year.
· I think the Thunder will beat the Pacers in the NBA Finals in five games.
· Anyone who has influence with Brooks running shoes: If you ever make pickleball shoes and they’re as comfortable as your running shoes, put me down for three pairs.
· I see more than a few 3.0 players with a $300 paddle.
Hudef is giving away a new paddle to the first person who emails the correct answer to one question at the end of my first blog of every month. This month’s winner will receive the Kevlar/carbon fiber Hudef Viva Pro Gen3 paddle, which retails for $169.99.
The question: In my May 16th blog about former NBA great and current pickleball standout Rick Barry, the 81-year-old NBA Hall of Famer says he has shrunk how many inches since his hoops career ended?
Email your answer to sales2@hudefsport.com. The winner will be contacted by email.
