PHOENIX — The Pickleball Hall of Fame (PHOF) today announced the five members comprising the 2023 Pickleball Hall of Fame Inductee Class. The PHOF inducts members each year in two categories: Competitor and Contributor.
The 2023 PHOF Inductee Class is as follows:
Competitor: Mona Burnett, Jennifer Dawson and Scott Moore
Contributor: Bill Booth and Seymour Rifkind
The 2023 PHOF Inductee Celebration will take place on November 9 in Plano, Texas, during the 2023 Biofreeze USA Pickleball National Championships, powered by Invited and the PPA Tour. Click here for more information and to purchase tickets for the celebration.
“It is with great pleasure that the Pickleball Hall of Fame announces its esteemed 2023 Inductees, who have truly left an indelible mark on pickleball through their athletic accomplishments and tireless passion for this sport,” said Stu Upson, President of the Pickleball Hall of Fame. “I looked forward to honoring these five incredible members of our community this fall at Nationals, who have contributed so much to our sport and community over the years.”
Mona Burnett is the only pickleball player to win gold in all five events entered into at a USA Pickleball National Championships, accomplishing this feat in 2015. She earned a total of 16 gold medals at Nationals and amassed a total of over 150 medals in her pickleball career, with 75 of them gold. The Calgary, Alberta native played in and medaled in all three of the major inaugural events – the 2009 USA Pickleball National Championships, the 2013 Tournament Of Champions, and the 2016 U.S. Open.
Jennifer Dawson is the world’s first-ever Triple Crown professional pickleball champion by winning singles, doubles and mixed doubles in the same 2017 Minto U.S. Open. She boasts a standout playing career and record, winning over 20 U.S. Open, National, and Tournament of Champions singles and doubles championship titles. Dawson is equally renowned for cultivating over a three-decade-long career as both a pickleball and tennis coach. The San Diego, California native is the owner of the Bobby Riggs Racket and Paddle Centre in California, together with her husband, Steve Dawson.
Scott Moore is a 21-time USA Pickleball National Champion, winning 12 consecutive events at Nationals from 2015-2017. His illustrious playing career also includes being a 12-time U.S. Open champion, seven-time Senior Pro Triple Crown winner, and 10-time Tournament of Champions winner. In 2016, the Fort Worth, Texas native co-founded Pickleball Trips, designed to facilitate unique cultural and pickleball experiences for groups of like-minded travelers. In 2020, he co-founded the best-selling High Performance Pickleball Academy to provide online instruction in pickleball. Moore developed a comprehensive pickleball training program that he teaches all over the Western Hemisphere – he has taught pickleball in over a dozen countries. He was the recipient of the 2022 APP Icon Award and became the first player to ever win a Senior Pro and Super Senior Pro Gold medals in the same tournament at the 2022 Mesa APP Open.
Bill Booth served on the USA Pickleball Board of Directors for six years, leading the Board as President for 3.5 years. He created the first online store for pickleball products and the initial software that USA Pickleball utilized for membership, rankings, places to play, and tournaments. Booth also created a free online court reservation system and worked with sport equipment manufacturer Oncourt Offcourt to create the first portable pickleball net. The Sun City, Arizona native was also responsible for the establishment of many pickleball courts in his local community, and was instrumental in creating the first USA Pickleball Rulebook. In 2012, he developed the original deflection test for pickleball paddles.
Seymour Rifkind is the Founder and former President of the Pickleball Hall of Fame, which he established in 2017. The Riverwoods, Illinois native is also the Founder and President of the first teaching organization in the sport of pickleball, the International Pickleball Teaching Professional Association (IPTPA). Rifkind also founded the World Pickleball Federation, an International Governing Body for the sport, in 2018. He began playing pickleball in 2014 and is a successful 5.0 pickleball player, previously coming from the world of gymnastics as an international-level gymnastics champion and coach to 25 All-Americans and 5 Olympians.
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About the Pickleball Hall of Fame
The Pickleball Hall of Fame was established in 2017 as an independent not for profit corporation. Original tier 1 sponsors of the PHOF were IPTPA, USAPA, Pickleball Central, Pickleball Magazine, and Pickleball Channel. The inaugural class of 6 inductees took place in November 2017. PHOF considers nominees from around the world, and currently inducts four members each year consisting of three in the Competitor category and one in the Contributor category.
About USA Pickleball
USA Pickleball is the National Governing Body for the sport of pickleball in the U.S. and provides players with official rules, tournaments, rankings and promotional materials. The mission of USA Pickleball is to promote the development and growth of pickleball in the United States and its territories. The association is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) corporation and governed by a board of directors and professional staff who provide the guidance and infrastructure for the continued growth and development of the sport.
USA Pickleball Media Contact:
Melissa Zhang, Director of Communications & Content
mzhang@usapickleball.org
Chuck Menke, Chief Marketing Officer
cmenke@usapickleball.org
Pickleball Hall of Fame Media Contact:
Kim Jagd, Vice President
kimjagd@gmail.com