Pickleballer in the 808: Naji Mourad
Pickleballer in the 808 Naji Mourad
Kona—In December of last year, I was at a conference in Kona. The hotel was located right next to the Holua Racquet and Paddle, so I popped in to check it out.
Fortunately, Naji Mourad was at the Courts while I was there, and I was introduced to him and was told he had an interesting story.
Naji was born and raised in Lebanon, immigrated to the US at age 17, and found his way to the Big Island in 2020.
There are ambassadors of the sport spreading the pickleball love globally, and Naji is one of them. Read on to learn about what Naji is doing to bring pickleball and positive change to a suffering community halfway across the world.
Without further ado, introducing Pickleballer in the 808 Naji Mourad!
Naji and his wife, Mari
Currently residing in: Reno, Nevada and Kona
Where did you grow up and what brought you to the Big Island?
Grew up in Beirut, Lebanon. Immigrated to the US in 1976 at age 17, and lived in the San Francisco Bay Area until 2020. In 2019, I did the Lava Man triathlon in Hawaii with family and friends and had a blast.
We instantly fell in love with the Big Island and in 2020 bought a condo in the Waikoloa Beach area.
How did you discover pickleball and when did you start playing?
We moved to Reno in 2020 and our community has 8 pickleball courts. Few months after our move, my neighbor who's a tennis player convinced me to play pickleball singles with him.
Instant addiction.
We then started joining our community morning games and played doubles.
My pickleball growth is really attributed to playing and learning at Holua Racquet and Paddle Club with the Big Island Rogue Pickleball Hui (in Kona). What an amazing Ohana. My wife, Mari, and I took lessons with the pros at Holua and were able to play with players from all levels.
It’s such a welcoming and friendly environment. That spirit of Ohana will serve us well later on, as we’ll talk about in a bit.
What do you do outside of pickleball?
I have to admit pickleball now consumes a lot of my time. We have a large community in Reno and we'll play 5 or 6 days out of the week.
Otherwise, I'm golfing, hiking or swimming with family and friends.
We retired early in 2021 and we spend a lot of time traveling internationally to Europe and Lebanon.
Najwa, Naji’s sister
I’m told that you’re involved in bringing pickleball to Lebanon. Please fill us in on this!
I went to visit my younger sister, Najwa, in Lebanon in 2021. She moved back there a couple of years earlier—she’s a good tennis and badminton player.
I took with me a pickleball net, a few paddles and court lines hoping to get a few games in. We rented a tennis court, set up a pickleball court, and introduced Najwa and a couple of her friends to pickleball.
That turned into a 2-3 times a week…and from 3 people to about 18 in a very short amount of time. I would give crash courses in pickleball and we just played. We had men and women of all ages and athletic level play and it evolved into a regular social/sport activity.
The introduction of pickleball in Lebanon was quite an amazing experience and that led Najwa and I to think seriously about opening a pickleball club. Our primary goal was to build a community similar to what we experienced in Reno and Hawaii.
Quick background on Lebanon and what really triggered our serious interest in bringing pickleball at a larger scale:
Lebanon is a beautiful country with resilient people that has endured a long civil war, a devastating economic crash instigated by ponzi scheme devised by central bank, and most recently the COVID epidemic.
We both felt that pickleball, being such an inclusive and social sport, can provide a positive distraction and a very affordable option for all economic levels.
In 2022, Najwa and I started the Pickleball Club of Lebanon with 6 outdoor courts and 3 indoor courts.
Our membership has been growing slowly but steadily. Since then, we have been looking at ways to expand the sport throughout the country and working with different groups on building courts and providing equipment and assistance.
It is quite a challenging process due to resources and economic constraints. We are also in discussions with a few high schools on making pickleball a part of their curriculum.
What do you love most about pickleball?
There are so many positive aspects to this sport.
I would say the amount of friends we've made since we started playing is staggering. It has really made retirement fun.
We feel blessed to have such great communities between Reno, Hawaii and Lebanon.
Our goal is to set up a tournament in Lebanon where we can bring players from all three communities together to help promote the sport further.
Unfortunately, for now, the situation in the region precludes us from doing it.
The Courts Naji and Najwa built in Lebanon, for their Pickleball Club of Lebanon
What paddle are you currently playing with?
I play with the Selkirk Luxx, Epic paddle.
What is the next goal you’re working toward (in pickleball or otherwise)?
Growing the sport in Lebanon and making it accessible to everyone is our number one goal.
I travel to Lebanon at least once a year for about a 2 month period.
I am continuously working on improving my level of play and hope to get certifications for training. In turn, we're trying to build a training group/community in Lebanon to help spread the sport.
It's a slow, time consuming process but so well worth it.
How often do you play?
4 to 6 times a week. I'm also starting to play more tournaments across the West region and Hawai’i.
Anything else on your mind that you’d like to share?
I have participated in sports all my life.
Played soccer for many years, racquetball in my younger days.
Pickleball, however, stands out for all the things it offers and I'm quite happy to see just in the last few years how inclusive it's become for all genders and ages.
It's no longer an "old" person sport. The fact I can play with Mari, both my sons, and countless friends is priceless!
Thank you Naji, for sharing your story, and for bringing the aloha spirit to pickleball in Lebanon!
