Why Nikki Mozeglio is an ace on the court
The local pickleball club founder tells why she recently opened this club and what she hopes to achieve through it.
A brilliant aspect to people is their ability to display resilience through all life’s challenges. Take Nikki Mozeglio, for example, as she triumphantly stands at the New Northcliff Pickleball Club courts – her smile stretching from ear to ear as she lives a dream realised.
She opened the club two months ago, on the day of her late mother’s birthday. She credits her mother as the reason why she love sports. “She got me into tennis and I know she would have loved pickleball,” she shared.
As a child, Mozeglio played netball and tennis; as an adult, she got into action cricket and padel.
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Though her love for sports is far reaching, her diagnosis with lymphoma, a type of blood cancer that affects the immune system, saw her having to put her cricket bat and paddle away for a while. At some point, she could not even feel her fingers – let alone be able to run.
As she still undergoes chemotherapy, and though she is in the late stages of her cancer, she continues to draw her strength from where she has always found it – through her love of life, family, and her determination to never quit.
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Well, let’s just say she won’t quit on what is really important to her. Back in April, she made the bold decision to quit her job so she could dedicate her time to pickleball and starting this club.
For her, sports have the capability to positively impact lives. “Pickleball can change people’s lives. [Look at] our club members, for example – it has changed their lives.
“They have found a new group of friends, something that they can do in the outdoors, have something to do, and it is a great, healthy option.”
It took a while for the club to find its forever home, Mozeglio having attempted to have the club at two other local venues – only to eventually find a great space at these Berario-based courts.
The club is now 100 members strong and counting, and her hope for it is to see it grow and hopefully, see the building of another court.
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