Indulge
fashion
Good Sportsmanship
North County athletic apparel company wants to remind you
to be kind and pickle on
BY DEANNA MURPHY
I
F IT SEEMS LIKE
pickleball is everywhere
these days, that 's
because it is. Once
thought of as a pastime
only for people "of a
certain age," it's now
captured the attention of players
young, old, and everywhere
in-between, and its popularity
soared so quickly in the past couple
of years, it's almost more of a
movement than a sport (the USA
Pickleball Association puts the
estimated player numbers in 2021
just below 5 million). For Solana
Beach resident Aubri Steele and
her family, it was an ideal way
to connect and be active during
the isolation of the pandemic —
and she knows she wasn't alone.
"I do think the pandemic was
a catalyst for this sport," says
Steele, whose family played on a
makeshift court they painted in
their driveway in early 2020. "I
think that the accessibility is what
really shot it through the roof…
and of course the inclusivity of
an all-age sport. It was like the
perfect storm, because we were all
at home looking for something
to do."
For Steele, though, merely playing
wasn't enough. Her passion for
the game led her to launch her
own pickleball apparel company,
Civile, in 2021. "is was definitely
a 'mid-life crisis' of some sort,"
she jokes, adding that the loss
in 2020 of her father, himself an
entrepreneur, was what ultimately
PORTRAIT:
PHOTO
BY
VINCENT
KNAKAL
Cody and
Aubri Steele
@ranchandcoast ranchandcoast.com
66 APRIL 2022 RANCH & COAST MAGAZINE
