Lesa Carter stumbled onto pickleball while helping a friend move to Fort Meyers, Florida, back in 2010. Someone asked Lesa to play pickleball during her visit, and she was hooked immediately.

 

When she returned to Ithaca, however, Lesa couldn’t find anyone playing pickleball. So, she joined a game with a group of seniors at the Cortland County Office of the Aging. She became so good that she started playing in tournaments across the country and winning.

 

Lesa finally found a venue for pickleball in Ithaca when, in 2020, she saw a vacancy in The Shops at Ithaca Mall and rented it on the spot.

 

Today, Pickleball Mania attracts nearly 400 players a week, holds at least four tournaments a year, and offers clinics and private lessons. Lesa has not only created a pickleball center where people can play year-round, but she has also created a community that has brought people together to enjoy America’s fastest-growing sport.