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West Hills Middle School Counselor Travels to 50 States Playing Pickleball with Strangers at Every Single Stop
Description
She has a passion for pickleball and this summer a West Hills Middle School counselor hit the road to pursue her passion.
On this episode of the Supercast, meet Lorraine Rupper. She traveled to every state in the nation hoping to play pickleball with strangers at every stop from coast to coast. Find out how she achieved her goal and won a game in every state, making memories to last a lifetime.
Audio Transcription
Anthony Godfrey:
When you are not counseling, you are pickleballing.
Lorraine Rupper:
Yes, I'll be on the pickleball court.
Anthony Godfrey:
Is that a verb? Pickleballing?
Lorraine Rupper:
Yes, pickleballing. Okay, so I traveled to 36 states in 19 days, and I played in 33 of those 36 states that I traveled to.
Anthony Godfrey:
Any of these events set up in advance?
Lorraine Rupper:
Nope. I just show up randomly.
Anthony Godfrey:
You showed up.
Anthony Godfrey:
Hello and welcome to the Supercast. I'm your host, Superintendent Anthony Godfrey. It's a sport that's taking off across the country, but I'm not sure anyone else has taken off across the country themselves to play pickleball in every state.
On the show today, we have some fun with West Hills Middle School counselor Lorraine Rupper. Find out how she managed to travel to all 50 states, playing a pickup game of pickleball with strangers at every stop, and making memories to last a lifetime.
[MUSIC]We're talking now with Lorraine Rupper here at West Hills Middle School. You're a counselor here at West Hills, but when you are not counseling, you are pickleballing.
Lorraine Rupper:
Yes, I'll be on the pickleball court.
Anthony Godfrey:
Is that a verb? Pickleballing?
Lorraine Rupper:
Yes, pickleballing.
Anthony Godfrey:
You have done so across the country this last summer. Tell me the stats up front and then let's talk about the experience.
Lorraine Rupper:
Okay, so I traveled to 36 states in 19 days, and I played in 33 of those 36 states that I traveled through this summer. In 19 days.
Anthony Godfrey:
So you played in 33 states. What made you say to yourself, "You know what? I need to play this across the country."
Lorraine Rupper:
I just wanted to spread the love of pickleball, and I feel like I am a good player. So normally, lower-level players, they always want to play with the upper-level players. So I'm like, I'm an upper-level player, and I want to meet people that have the same passion I do of playing pickleball. And I'm like, “I've never been to the south and I haven't been to the east. So here's a great way to do it.”
Anthony Godfrey:
So you were helping people elevate their game by having them play with someone who has some skills beyond the casual pickleballer.
Lorraine Rupper:
Mm-hmm.
Anthony Godfrey:
How many states had you traveled to before embarking on this journey?
Lorraine Rupper:
I had played in 17 states.
Anthony Godfrey:
You played in 17.
Lorraine Rupper:
17.
Anthony Godfrey:
So if my math is right, you've now played in all 50 states? Is that right?
Lorraine Rupper:
All 50 states, yep.
Anthony Godfrey:
Okay, so 33 states in 19 days. Tell me, what does playing pickleball in a state count as? Because obviously, you had to cram in multiple states into one day.
Lorraine Rupper:
Mm-hmm.
Anthony Godfrey:
Talk to me about how that happened.
Lorraine Rupper:
Okay, so there was a general plan that somebody has done to play pickleball in every state. I could skip some of those because I had done most of the western states already. And then they would say where to go next. So sometimes I would go by that plan, and sometimes I