From pickleball to personal revelation: How Callie Jo Smith finds Christ on the court

Callie Jo Smith never planned on being a professional pickleball player.

In fact, she used to roll her eyes at the sound of the sport. “It drove me nuts,” she laughed, remembering the loud paddles, the altered tennis nets and what she once saw as graceless strokes. “I will never be caught dead with a pickleball paddle in my hand,” she told her husband.

But today, she holds 11 professional titles, has traveled the world with her family and uses her influence as one of the sport’s best to do something far greater than win games: She shares the gospel of Jesus Christ.

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