Pete and Ellen Mattson - Pickleball and life partners

If you asked Pete and Ellen Mattson to tell you about their lives, you might hear a lot of facts and figures. Pete will tell you that he and Ellen have participated in over 100 pickleball tournaments. He’ll mention that they’ve traveled in their 2006 Monaco Diplomat, or as they call it, The MotherShip, for 19 years. Pete might even divulge that between Ellen and him, they have officiated 400 pickleball matches or that they have visited 479 RV parks in the US and Canada. However, there are experiences in the Mattsons’ lives that one must dig a little deeper to discover.

For instance, in 2008, the Mattsons joined the SOWER (Servants On Wheels Ever Ready) Ministry, a non-profit, non-denominational Christian couples RV work ministry that provides volunteer help to selected non-profit Christian ministries. SOWER Ministry trades a month of work for free RV sites, and the Mattsons ministered in San Diego, Chico, and Palmdale, California; three Phoenix sites; and Fairbanks Alaska. Additionally, Pete and Ellen have built 13 decks - two here in Palm Creek, the last one for their friends, Steve and Cheryl. Pete, a computer programmer for 57 years, designed a website called BigRigBible.com that chronicles the Mattsons’ 19 years of travel. The free site contains 1,100 pages and 18,000 photos.

Ellen and Pete first discovered pickleball in 2006 at an RV resort in Arkansas and began playing in 2008 at Palm Creek, where they received lessons from LeRoy Schmidt and Lynn Carlson. It wasn’t long before they started tournament play and between 2010 and 2013, they played in 33 tournaments. Over the years, they have visited many parks, but Palm Creek is their favorite. They moved to Palm Creek in 2022 and spend seven months a year here and the other five in the northwest. While in Palm Creek, Pete and Ellen play pickleball daily and enjoy line dancing, potlucks, the card game Swoop, hot tubbing, and neighborhood music events.

There is something remarkable about a couple who have been married 50 years, have lived in close quarters for 19 years, have six children together, play and referee pickleball together, and can still assemble a puzzle without arguing. Pete says that the secret (if there is one) to a long and happy relationship is to “try every day to bless your spouse in any way, big or small.” His life philosophy is equally selfless: “The only thing that matters in life is relationships,” Pete explains. “Your relationship with the Lord, your wife, your children, pickleball players…all.”

Ellen’s life’s philosophy is “to be kind to others and to always forgive whether asked or not; also, to cherish family.” When you are lucky enough to have Ellen as your pickleball partner, you see her life philosophy in action. Tall, with a wicked angle shot from the non-volley zone, Ellen is an encouraging, gracious player. No matter the score, Ellen never gets flustered. Ellen admires Susan Baldwin for her dedication to Palm Creek Pickleball. “She goes above and beyond!” Ellen notes.

The Mattsons play at the 4.0 level and can be seen volunteering for the club in many capacities: mentoring, officiating, working the sign-in desk, leading round robins, and being stellar ambassadors for the sport of pickleball. Palm Creek is lucky to have this dynamic duo in our midst and on the courts.