Julie Johnson Featured On Bonjour! Sports Talk

Watch our Senior Pro, Julie Johnson, as she was interviewed on Amazon Prime’s Bonjour! Sports Talk.

Transcript

Interviewer: [00:00:00] Welcome back to Bjo Sports Talk Live on Prime video and on amp. We are thrilled now to be joined by a very special guest on this Monday morning from the Pro Pickleball Association. PPA Pickleball’s. Very own. Julie Johnson joining the show. She’s a senior pro pickleball player. She’s got two pro pickleball-playing kids, a pickleball family, as the sport is sweeping the nation.

Interviewer: Julie, thanks so much for waking up with us this morning.

Julie Johnson: Yes. Good. Glad to be here. Thank

Interviewer: you for having me. I, I’ve gotta ask, how did you get into pickleball in the first place? What do you love about this sport?

Julie Johnson: Well, actually, um, we moved to Florida about five and a half years ago from Kansas, and I was so excited because I thought, I’m gonna get to play tennis every day.

Julie Johnson: That’s what I love to do. And, uh, One day I was down looking for people to play tennis with. I was new and I saw this massive group of people at the Delray Beach Tennis Center, and they were all back there. And I, I went [00:01:00] back and, and talked to ’em and they just included me right away. Uh, we, I had played a little bit before, but they were, um, really inclusive and I could go there for an hour.

Julie Johnson: I could go for four hours, whatever I had time for. And uh, so that’s kind of how I got started. Julie, I am fascinated with the sport. Uh, I see it everywhere. And when you take a look at this sport specifically, it’s so brand new. Uh, what’s the number one question you get asked about it? Um, what the name, why is it called pickleball?

Julie Johnson: And also, uh, people ask a lot, like, how did the whole family get into it? Um, you know, what’s so great about it? Uh, people have a lot of questions about anything called pickleball. So what’s really next for this sport? Like, I mean, it, it’s starting to get a lot of traction. It’s starting to get a lot of people.

Julie Johnson: What is it gonna take for this sport to really let people understand and see the beauty of pickleball. [00:02:00] Yeah, so first of all, we’re gonna have to get more international. Um, my children especially really hope we make the Olympics. Um, I think they’re working to have it as a, um, kind of a spectator sport in the 2028 in la.

Julie Johnson: Um, and also we’re gonna have to, uh, get more viewership on television. So those are the two things that kind of really need to take off in order to get the sponsors. Even more behind it. The, it we’re doing well. Um, it’s only two and a half years old, but it, it could do better. So,

Interviewer: um, Julie, first of all, I know ha, happy belated Mother’s Day.

Interviewer: I know your kids are very big in this sport as well. Just jumping in on this one, becoming great players. What is it like having, you know, your kids playing at such a high level as well? Stressful.

Julie Johnson: It’s, it’s a lot of fun. Uh, I never saw this coming. My son was always really into tennis and when, uh, the pan, you know, covid hit, it really [00:03:00] shut tennis down and he was going out crazy, like he wanted something to do.

Julie Johnson: So he started going out to the pickleball court with me all the time. And, uh, so there’s the family. We’ve had a great time, but my daughter was never really into it and slowly she started playing and now the two of them are playing mixed doubles together this year on the circuit. And, uh, so it, it’s, it’s fun, it’s wild, it’s crazy.

Julie Johnson: Um, nothing I ever saw coming. Um, but it’s been a fun time. And Julie, what’s it like being their parent and their coach? Because again, they’re top level players as well as you are. How do you, I mean, those are many different hats you’re wearing. Thank you for saying that, because I tell the kids all the time, this is too many hats.

Julie Johnson: All right. But um, you know, it’s good. We have to talk a lot. We’ve really had to sit down and have some serious conversations about. Listen, you know, if you guys want my help, I’m there for you always. If you don’t want my help, I’m happy to sit back, [00:04:00] um, because you say the wrong thing at the wrong time to a teenager and you’re in big trouble.

Julie Johnson: So, um, it’s, uh, it’s been a, it’s been hard, but we’ve worked through a lot and so it’s been good. We’ve come to a lot of understanding. I just told the kids, you’re gonna have to grow up a little faster. You’re gonna have to mature faster because it’s just how it is. Um, and you’re gonna have to hear things from your mom that you may not want to hear, but.

Julie Johnson: I’m just there to help. Well, I was speaking of moms, uh, so recently after Mother’s Day, you said you really look up to, uh, KD’s mom. Well, why so? Yeah. Well, he gave his MVP speech, um, and the way he talked about her, I still can’t watch it without crying, but the thing she did, the sacrifices she made for him, and, uh, the, the.

Julie Johnson: Values she instilled were just beautiful. It was inspirational and as a mom, that’s the best you can hope for to, to give to your kids.

Interviewer: Now the Pro Pickleball Association is really growing. There’s a lot [00:05:00] of incredible athletes. Is there another athlete with kids, whether it’s in, in the PPA or in sport in general, that inspires you to bring your best every day?

Interviewer: Cuz this is, like you mentioned, it’s a lot of hats to wear.

Julie Johnson: Yeah. Um, I also really admire Patrick. I mean, Patrick Mahomes, of course, we’re from Kansas, so we love Wichita Kansas, you know, Kansas area. So we love the Chiefs and the way he talks about his mom. And I remember after he won I think MVP for the first Super Bowl, he went on one of the night shows and, uh, he actually brought his mom along and she was sitting on the couch.

Julie Johnson: They showed her sitting over there, just sitting there supporting him. Encouraging them. And uh, so I think, you know, there’s people out there who’ve done this. I think we should all have a support group cuz it’s not easy. Um, but it’s the ones quietly in the background. I, I also just went and watched the movie, uh, with Michael Jordan and the story of how his mom helped with the whole Nike shoe.

Julie Johnson: [00:06:00] Uh, and I just, there’s a lot I could learn from some of these people for sure. Yeah. And you moms can do it all. You can do everything. I love this. Uh, when your quote says, the favorite, the favorite tournament to win is the one you or your favorite tournament is the one you win, right? The mentality of a pickleball, what’s that one thought process that you have going into every match?

Julie Johnson: So pickleball is exhausting. I don’t think people realize the format that it’s set up where you play. Through your entire bracket. Now they have, um, gotten to where they put championship Sunday, um, on a different day, but you’re literally out there playing for close to eight hours. Um, and that’s a long time to stay mentally in it.

Julie Johnson: Uh, there’s different plans of attack, different, uh, strategies for each team that you’re facing and you don’t get a week off to work on it. You get 15 minutes and, uh, you don’t know who you’re gonna face because you don’t know how the bracket’s gonna play out. So there’s [00:07:00] constant adjustments, and it’s just to learn to focus and be flexible.

Julie Johnson: It’s tough, it’s

Interviewer: hard to focus, to be flexible, to balance it all. But Julie Johnson, we love watching you thrive in the P p a. Thank you so much for taking the time with us this morning on Banjo Sports Talk. It’s been a treat.

Julie Johnson: Thanks, Julie. Thank you guys. All right. Julie Johnson,

Interviewer: pro pickleball player, incredible athlete, mother, coach, what can’t she do?

Interviewer: It’s been a treat having her on the show. It’s been a treat of a show on a Monday morning, starting the week off. Strong with you fellas. Absolutely. Hey, we’re back here tomorrow, every day, Monday through Friday. Bonjour Sports Talk, all of our friends. Thanks for watching.