Roger BelAir

Roger BelAir is a successful entrepreneur, author, and keynote speaker at business conventions. However, he is best known for introducing the game of pickleball into jails and prisons in US.[1][2][3]

Career

In the 1980s Roger was a Vice President of Seattle-First National Bank, the largest bank in the Pacific Northwest at that time.[citation needed] While maintaining his banking career, he and Nick Briney founded BelAir & Briney, an investment company.[4] In 1984 the firm was profiled in the cover story of Money magazine.[citation needed]

In 1987, he published his book titled ''Make a Fortune Buying Discount Mortgages'' at Doubleday publishers.[5] This was followed by ‘’How to Borrow Money from a Banker: A Business Owner’s Guide'' published by the American Management Association.[6] The success of the banking book led to Roger being a popular presenter at business conventions around the country on the topics of finance and dealing with financial institutions.[2]

Involvement in Pickleball

In 2017 CBS's 60 Minutes aired a segment on Sheriff Tom Dart who runs Chicago's Cook Country Jail. While watching the program, Roger observed many of the inmates were simply playing cards or watching TV and decided to introduce pickleball in the prisons.[7][3]

He contacted Sheriff Dart and offered his services which were accepted. The introduction of the game at the jail proved to be a huge success. Disciplinary problems were reduced and gang members who previously wouldn't talk to each other played pickleball together. His introduction of the game in Chicago was featured in a front-page story in USA Today. The success of his program in Chicago led Roger to various prisons in various states.[1][8]

Pickleball is currently the fastest-growing sport in the country. Others now are replicating Roger's efforts by teaching the game at prisons in their communities.[9][10] In 2023 he co-founded PICLeague.org, a non-profit that supports instructors who are replicating his efforts and teaching the game in prisons.

References

  1. ^ a b Maese, Rick. "Pickleball's latest court? The prison yard". washingtonpost.com. Retrieved 8 May 2024.
  2. ^ a b "Roger BelAir Extols The Virtues Of Pickleball". 1889mag.com. 12 December 2018. Retrieved 8 May 2024.
  3. ^ a b "Pickleball is exploding in WA. What makes it so popular?". seattletimes.com. 4 September 2022. Retrieved 8 May 2024.
  4. ^ Brooks, Andree (1988-05-08). "TALKING: Seller Loans; Cashing In A Private Mortgage". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2024-05-08.
  5. ^ Air, Roger Bel (1987-04-15). Make a Fortune Buying Discounted Mortgages (First ed.). Garden City, N.Y: Doubleday. ISBN 978-0-385-23924-0.
  6. ^ "How to borrow money from a banker : a business owner's guide | WorldCat.org". search.worldcat.org. Retrieved 2024-05-08.
  7. ^ "Why A 72-Year-Old Man Started Teaching Pickleball In Prisons". www.wbur.org. 2019-07-26. Retrieved 2024-05-08.
  8. ^ Gleeson, Scott. "Pickleball, the country's fastest growing sport, is also popular in this jail". USA TODAY. Retrieved 2024-05-08.
  9. ^ "SAN QUENTIN ADMINISTRATION SETS NEW EXAMPLE". sanquentinnews.com. Retrieved 2024-05-08.
  10. ^ Barsaleau, Julie Makinen and Mary. "Pickleball: Rancho Mirage man brings the game behind bars". The Desert Sun. Retrieved 2024-05-08.