AUBURN, Ala. – Not only does Auburn women's golf head coach Melissa Luellen have an NCAA championship and a LPGA tournament win to her name on the golf course, but she also has a few wins on the pickleball court. Luellen's most recent athletic achievement turned out to be an invitation to the 2023 Senior Games in Pittsburgh for one of the fastest growing sports in the country.
Luellen had just a couple of months of racket sport experience from the ninth grade before turning her focus to golf. However, she returned to racket sports about 11 years ago.
"When I was coaching at Arizona State, I ended up playing golf with this lady at a fundraising event," Luellen said. "I asked her how often she played golf and she told me that she did not play golf nearly as often as she played pickleball. I had never even heard of the sport at the time."
Coach Luellen realized that there was a group that met regularly at a court just five minutes from her house. She saw this as a good opportunity to get to meet people in the community as well as make connections and raise money for her program.
"I was focused on fundraising and ended up getting into pickleball!"
Playing pickleball quickly became a favorite hobby of the Tulsa, Oklahoma native, and when she was considering taking the head coaching job with the Tigers back in 2015, it was a factor in the decision.
"When I was interviewing for the job here, they asked if I had any questions and my first one was if there were any pickleball courts in the area. All the interviewers looked at me very confused. Joy Vrbka, our sport administrator, left the room to call around. She came back in the room a few minutes later and said she was happy to report that there were many places to play in the area then listed them all off!"
Luellen plays competitively and has medaled at various tournaments in the area, including at member tournaments in Opelika. USA Pickleball's skill rating system rates players on a scale from 1.0 to 6.0. Currently, the Auburn head coach has a 3.5 skill rating, and she says that her goal is to one day be a 4.0.
The US Senior Games' regional qualifying pickleball tournament was held at the Opelika Sportsplex earlier this year. Each region of the United States sends a select number of doubles teams from each to the US Senior Olympics. Coach Luellen and her playing partner, Beth Roop, played well enough to be one of the four teams to represent the southeast region which includes Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, Kentucky, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia.
Unfortunately, Luellen and Roop will not be able to play in the event in Pittsburg due to a recruiting conflict at the European Girls' Championship in France that is being played at the same time.
The eight-year head coach's hobby has also rubbed off on her team, as senior Megan Schofill and junior Anna Foster are also regulars on the court. Last year, it was also the inspiration of Foster's Halloween costume, which was a pickleball playing Coach Luellen.
"It is a great game for me," Luellen said. "It gives me exercise, it gives me competition and it is a great social event. You can play with anybody- males and females, young and old. I play with all kinds of different people. And it's really fun just meeting new people through the sport."
One day when the time comes to retire from coaching golf, Coach Luellen plans to play competitively more often.
"It is definitely in the retirement plan: pickleball and bingo!"