Ode to Steve Kuhn

At the behest of his nephew who knew he’d love hitting that ball.

Keenan, the wise one, had a hand in what was to happen

But little did he know how it would grow in good fashion.

He entered the Bethany Church gym without a paddle or a ball.

To those that he met, that didn’t seem to matter at all.

They called, ‘We don’t care. We want you to play and have fun.”

Right from the start, he knew there were points to be won.

He didn’t know the rules and laughed at the word kitchen

But after much laughter and even some bitchin

He knew this was the sport for all of the ages

Their inclusiveness and joy became quite contagious.

The church whose mission was to praise God above

Was just the place where Steve learned a game that he loved.

They welcomed him to play like he was the prodigal son

He found that he was addicted to the game right from day one.

Steve saw the sense of community in the game

Thoughts began to flow from him, some he had to tame

He went home wondering how this could change the world

After much thought, good ideas began to unfurl.

What if he formed teams to foster the player community

And brought it to the masses to create even more unity.

He had founded Ideal immigration reform with his prosperity

And invested in clean drinking water and other charities

This is the story of how the MLP and DUPR came to be.

Teams that play in tournaments for all of the world to see

His vision for well-being and equality being close to his heart

He worked and negotiated to do more than his part.

He wanted more children to learn to play the game

And he knew how to do this by leveraging his fame

He knew that they were living in difficult times

He then assembled a dedicated team to let the kids to shine.

He’s sitting on the shoulders of giants who went before him

From the ambassadors to players like Dekel, Tyson and Ben

Who started and worked so hard promoting the game

He’s full of respect for them as now more are gaining fame.

Pickleball and MLP aren’t just a passing craze

As many people are watching it and playing it all day

There’s gratitude for the ideas that have been conceived

Especially by a wise and caring humanitarian like Steve.

By Karen Strine