Aloha Pickleballer You Should Know: Nolan Ahn
Aloha Pickleballer You Should Know Nolan Ahn, awarding a paddle to a Kaua’i pickleballer
Kaua’i: According to Nolan Ahn, Kaua’i is a notorious late adopter.
He and the Pickleball Association Kaua’i (PAK) have had to battle serious inertia on the part of the Kaua’i government to get them to recognize pickleball as a legitimate sport requiring facilities, like tennis.
Even today, the playing conditions for pickleballers on Kaua’i are, in Nolan’s words, horrendous.
The PAK is a non-profit that started their membership drive in December of 2021, and have since grown the organization to 358 members.
Unlike most pickleball organizations whose mission it is to “promote” the sport, the PAK’s mission is to obtain, build, operate and expand pickleball courts on Kaua’i, and run them with a spirit of aloha. Until they get more pickleball courts than they need, promotion is not in their mission.
In their quest to fulfill their mission, they’re following the models of similar mainland cities, like Sequim, Washington. Pickleballers in Sequim convinced their County officials (by lobbying them at their meetings) to use $217,000 that they raised to build eight dedicated pickleball courts. The Sequim pickleballer’s persistence paid off—they were also able to get the County to turn over the operation of the new dedicated facility to them.
Back on island, the County finally relented and in May of this year, converted old and worn tennis courts into four “dedicated” pickleball courts (that are facing the wrong way on a sloped surface). And although they’re thankful, it’s not enough.
There are big challenges ahead for the PAK but through it all, Nolan remains dedicated to their purpose and mission, and he hopes to bring their vision to fruition in his lifetime.
To support Kaua’i pickleballers in their mission to develop and operate quality pickleball facilities, consider joining and becoming a member of PAK (Pickleball Association Kaua’i).
Join me in learning more about Nolan Ahn, our Aloha Pickleballer You Should Know, and let’s give him a virtual round of applause for the work he does for Kaua’i pickleballers!
Nolan and his wife on his 75th birthday
Let’s start out with the “Hawaii” question…where did you grow up and what high school did you go to?
It’s been so long (laughs). I was born and raised on Kaua’i…I grew up in a town called Kamakani, my entire school from grade K-8 was a hundred students and my class was 15 students. Very small town. I graduated from Waimea High School.
How and when did you discover pickleball?
I’ve always been a paddle sport guy. Ping pong, I played some tennis, then I got into golf but i got away from those things. I heard about pickleball about eight years ago, from Jack Hodges, our Regional Ambassador, who is a Kaua’i resident. He retired and came back to live on Kaua’i and one of the first things that he packed in his container was six pickleball nets and paddles.
He was an Ambassador in California, and he intended to come to Kaua’i and bring the sport with him. So he did.
My older sister had been playing pickleball for a number of years because she traveled back and forth from Florida to Honolulu, and she played at the Villages, which has 150 courts in a retirement community, so she was telling me about it…she knew how I liked ping pong.
She said, “you’d love it”. And from the first moment, I said “alright, something to grow old with.”
Nolan with his grandkids
What is the status of the PAK’s mission?
Land is so expensive, so we’re looking for a site. We think there’s a number of suitable sites on existing parks, but it just so happens that our County does not agree with us. An innovative thing would be to put them up on golf courses—golf courses have lots of land and declining players…all we need is about an acre, and we can put up a fabulous facility. They (the County) said, “we don’t do that”.
Looking for a site is our primary concern. We can’t fundraise until we have something that is secured, so we are exploring purchasing something, but that’s big money too. After we raise the money for that, if we do, will we be able to raise the money to build a facility, or will we be back to chalk lines on dirt?
And many people have come up, because opinions are free and we accept them all, that say, why don’t you ask the rich billionaires that live on Kaua’i to give you something? And I say, “That’s a wonderful idea. Can you give us a warm introduction?”
And no one has been able to do that.
Nolan with his Granddaughter
What do you like to do outside of pickleball?
Is there anything else? (Laughs)
One of the things I've been doing for years, for like 15 years, is we have a bunch of older guys that have been getting together, once a week, at an event called “Thirsty Thursday”. That’s where we sit around, drink beer, and solve the problems of the world, only to have the world screw it up, and we have to come back the next week and fix it again.
There is no end tenure to “Thirsty Thursday”, because the world keeps not fixing itself, contrary to our suggestions.
The byline to “Thirsty Thursday” is that we are a beer, book, and gun club.
Is that a non-negotiable event?
Well, a lot of things would have to come up to make me miss it.
Nolan joined me on video to talk about his work with the Pickleball Association Kaua’i, the challenges they face, their mission and purpose, and what he loves the most about pickleball. I hope you enjoy our conversation!
Connect with Nolan through the PAK.
