Jefferson County resident Tony Hoang recently was drafted to play in the National Pickleball League as a member of the Houston Hammers.
The NPL, a professional league for women and men 50 and older, started in 2022.
The league has 12 teams made up of 14 to 16 players. Each squad’s roster must be made up of half women and half men, and at least two players must be at least 60 years old, according to the NPL website.
Pickleball – a game described as a mixture of tennis, badminton and table tennis – has experienced a boom in popularity across the country in the last decade.
Hoang, who turned 50 this year and lives in Crystal City, said he began playing the sport five years ago.
“I got into it because of Jim Berger (a Crystal City man who has helped promote the sport locally and far beyond the Twin City area). I learned the game quickly. Pickleball is my passion, like it’s Jim Berger’s passion.”
Originally from Vietnam, Hoang said he grew up playing other sports that helped him develop skills he would later use in pickleball.
“I knew I had the basic skills I learned from ping pong and tennis in Vietnam,” he said.
Hoang said his quickness and ability to predict where to be on the court are his strengths.
“I am good on my backhand and my reset, knowing where I need to be on the court,” he said.
Berger said Hoang has excellent pickleball skills.
“First of all, you have to have good athletic ability and good reflexes,” Berger said. “Tony has that. Serve isn’t as important in pickleball because it’s an underhand serve. He’s got good overall volleying ability. He’s very good at (shot) placement.”
Hoang said he works hard to improve his game, but he considers it a labor of love.
“It’s fun,” he said. “I play just about every day. I coach two or three days a week. I’m training (for the NPL games) now.”
Tony Hoang practices his pickleball skills at Crystal City Municipal Park.
Hoang said he traveled to Dallas in March to take part in a league combine where team officials evaluated players’ skills during the tryouts. Then, the Houston team drafted Hoang during the league draft on April 14 in Naples, Fla.
In addition to the Houston team, the NPL includes squads representing Kansas City, Mo.; Austin, Texas; Boca Raton, Fla.; Denver, Colo.; Indianapolis, Ind.; Naples, Fla.; Oklahoma City, Okla.; Coachella Valley, Calif.; Columbus, Ohio; Princeton, N.J.; and Seattle, Wash.
“I’ve seen their competitions online,” Hoang said. “It’s city against city. The competitions have male against male, female against female and mixed doubles.”
The league schedule includes round-robin weekend competitions that include all teams. The first competition is set for May 17-19 in Chicago.
Berger said those interested in watching Hoang and the rest of the league play may catch the competition on the NPL Channel, YouTube and Facebook.
Hoang has been a USA Pickleball ambassador, as well as a representative to the International Federation of Pickleball. He is a certified pickleball instructor and has served as operations director for pickleball tournaments.
“I visited Vietnam a couple of months ago to promote pickleball,” Hoang said. “People in Vietnam are playing pickleball.”
Hoang and his wife, Helen, own the Only Nails salon in Festus.
“My wife and family will run Only Nails while I’m away for games,” he said. “I’m kind of full time with the pickleball right now.”
Dan Lorella of Herculaneum, president of the Jefferson County Pickleball League, said he believes Hoang’s success will spark more interest in pickleball, both locally and beyond.
“It 100 percent encourages other people to play pickleball,” said Lorella, a former gold medalist in pickleball at the Missouri Show-Me Games. “It should bring them out to just learn the game.”
Berger said pickleball continues to grow in popularity across the country.
“It’s flourishing,” he said.
Berger also said he is thrilled for his friend’s pickleball success, adding that the pickleball courts at Cathy Jokerst Memorial Park in Festus, where Hoang began playing, have begun producing a number of outstanding players.
“We’ve got a girl, Olivia Sutton. She’s 17, from Crystal City. She’s on the verge of becoming pro. We also have a gal, Laura Frank. She’s 59 and has more pickleball medals than any woman in Missouri. She’s from Hillsboro.
“We’ve had a guy, Dylan Frazier, from Columbia, who played his first tournament during the Firecracker Festival at Jokerst when he was 14. He’s 22 and one of the best in the world.”
The courts in Jokerst Memorial Park, which are named for Berger and his wife, Michelle, another pickleball enthusiast, currently are closed for renovation.
They are expected to be ready to use for the 2024 Twin City Larry Crites Memorial Firecracker Festival Pickleball Tournament this summer.
The tournament is scheduled to run from June 21-30 at the park, 525 S. Mill Street, near the intersection of Mill Street and Hwy. A.
Berger said it is the second-oldest pickleball tournament in the St. Louis region.
For more information, call 314-960-1787.