Mick Tingstrom had no idea the rabbit hole he’d venture down after his initial run on a pickleball court. It has morphed into a national tournament and visions of Paralympics inclusion.

After coaching his sons through various grade school sports in their careers, Tingstrom required a new endeavor. The retired Army lieutenant colonel had an abundance of passion but required another avenue to use that energy after he finished coaching.

During that time, Tingstrom’s father, Ray, began playing pickleball and eventually introduced the game to Tingstrom. Ray, also a retired Army lieutenant colonel, learned the game eight years ago from a veteran friend and Ray wanted to introduce pickleball to his family.

Ray met Tingstrom and Tingstrom’s brother, Charlie, at a recreation center and taught them the basics. But Ray noticed Tingstrom’s immediate infatuation with pickleball.  

“Mick grabbed on to it as I did,” Ray said. “He’s gotten better and better over the years and has played a lot more than I have.”

Tingstrom has remained dedicated to pickleball and, as a singles player, competes at 4.5 to 5.0 skill levels, which are considered advanced and expert ratings. That’s one ranking shy of a 5.5, or expert pro.

In May 2023, he served as a coach at a Military Adaptive Court Sports pickleball and badminton clinic. The daylong clinic, which occurred in Colorado Springs, piqued Tingstrom’s interest. A conversation with another veteran ignited a fire in Tingstrom he hadn’t felt in years.

“I met another veteran and I saw the impact and change that this sport can give to an individual,” Tingstrom said. “When I saw his face light up when he hit that pickleball, I knew I had to do something that was beyond a one-day clinic. I left that clinic convinced that someone to make that change could be me.”

The veteran Tingstrom met was Steven Hutchcraft, who discovered his love for pickleball during the clinic. Hutchcraft was in a motorcycle wreck in 2020 and had his left leg amputated in 2022 as a result of the incident.

After his wreck and amputation, Hutchcraft didn’t participate in many activities. But the MACS clinic offered Hutchcraft an opportunity to return to a form of normalcy.

“I was a pickleball naysayer before I had my accident,” Hutchcraft said. “I was someone who said pickleball is a geriatric sport for old people and I didn’t have much interest in playing it. … I played pickleball that morning, we ate lunch and later we played badminton. We played one game of badminton and I was like, ‘Can we get back to playing pickleball?’”

That began Hutchcraft’s pickleball journey. He and Tingstrom exchanged information to remain in touch, and that evolved into Hutchcraft playing pickleball with Tingstrom’s family.

“During that time, (Tingstrom) realized there’s not really anything here in Colorado Springs for people who want to play pickleball who are in wheelchairs,” Hutchcraft said. “Not long after, he began to look into that.”

Tingstrom contacted MACS to pave a way for local wheelchair athletes to play pickleball.

“I told them I’d like to support their organization by providing a permanent presence in Colorado Springs serving veterans,” Tingstrom said. “I told them that I would do this with my dad if they could support financially with donations to pay for court time. I wanted to set up a clinic and program in the city.”

With the help of MACS and Peak Pickleball owners Scott and Tina Wilson, Tingstrom morphed that dream into reality. Every Wednesday at Peak Pickleball, located at the Chapel Hills Mall, Tingstrom, along with Ray, teaches a free pickleball class to veterans, some in wheelchairs and others who are not.

Hutchcraft was the first student in that class, which quickly began to swell in size. First, it doubled to two, then again to four and, eventually, up to 16. Now, Ray and Tingstrom host around 60 veterans each session and have taught more than 400 vets how to play pickleball.

“It’s a life-changing thing and that’s the way it is for a number of folks we’ve met over the years,” Ray said. “That’s not just the case for the pickleball players, but I get a great amount of satisfaction sharing my knowledge with someone who has never played or someone who doesn’t know the ropes.”

For most, providing this avenue of pickleball would suffice. But Tingstrom remains an advocate for pickleball, and that was highlighted June 19-21.

Tingstrom helped coordinate the inaugural Numotion USA Pickleball Wheelchair National Championships. The three-day tournament was held at Peak Pickleball under USA Pickleball, the national governing body for pickleball in the United States.

“This is the first of its kind,” Scott Wilson said in a release. “Wheelchair pickleball has typically been included as an add-on to tournaments. This event puts wheelchair athletes at the center of the championship experience. It’s important because it is here in Colorado Springs, the home of Olympic City, USA. This is a place where a Paralympic-level sport can be seen, celebrated and supported. I hope this helps build momentum toward the future.”

The tournament featured 94 players including two of Tingstrom’s sons. Tyler Tingstrom, a retired Army major, and Matthew, a recent Air Academy graduate, participated in the hybrid bracket, which included wheelchair athletes and nonwheelchair players.

Tyler said Tingstrom taught him the game after returning from Afghanistan in 2021. Tyler “thought it was a fun, cute game” upon introduction. But like his father, Tyler became a serious player, especially when he and his family returned to Colorado Springs.

“It was a blast playing the game across generations with my 80-year-old grandparents,” Tyler said. “I play on a team at Peak Pickleball and I’ve played four seasons in the team-league format. … To (Tingstrom and Ray) it’s about creating opportunities for people who have a common experience in life and to form a community in that way. It’s been amazing seeing my dad do this for the wheelchair tournament and he’s poured his heart and soul into organizing the logistics around this.

“He’s made hundreds of calls to people all over to convince them to come here to Colorado Springs and it’s because he wants people to come out and feel what it’s like to compete in a legit tournament.”

Ray introduced pickleball to Matthew around the same time as Tingstrom and, at first, Matthew joked that pickleball “seemed super cringy” but changed his stance after witnessing Tingstrom’s passion.

“Seeing my dad being able to spread this, not only in Colorado, but across the country, has been inspiring,” Matthew said. “It’s inspired me to do what I can with the time that I have to contribute to pickleball. I’m volunteering to be a hybrid partner, so I compete with another wheelchair player and I’ve been doing that for a few years.”

As much as Tingstrom has provided to pickleball, he remains ambitious. Tingstrom hopes to see wheelchair pickleball on a grander stage in the future.

“My hope would be by (2032), pickleball will be in the Paralympics,” Tingstrom said. “I’m thrilled I have been able to be the person I believe God has used to bring this event to life, but this has for sure been a team effort.”