Day in Court: Ormond Beach Police Department hosts second successful Open Court pickleball event

The OBPD invited the community to a day of pickleball at the Nova Community Center on Thursday, July 30.

  • By Michele Meyers
  • | 9:00 a.m. July 31, 2026
  • Ormond Beach Observer
  • Neighbors
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Back by popular demand, the Ormond Beach Police Department, in collaboration with the Parks and Recreation Department, hosted its second Open Court community event on Thursday, July 30. Local pickleball players gathered at the Nova Community Center to challenge OBPD officers to a few friendly matches on the indoor courts.

OBPD Community Outreach Officer Marc Pedevillano organized the first Open Court event in June after visiting area recreation centers while tending to daily business. He said he would stop in to meet people and interact with the community and noticed how popular pickleball was at the different facilities. He asked if anyone had ever considered a “pickleball-with-a-cop” type event.

“There were younger people and kids there, there were senior citizens and middle-aged people there, all playing pickleball,” he said. “It appealed to everybody. So I started talking with the staff at the desk (about a pickleball event). They said they thought it would be a great idea. We put one together about a month ago; everybody really loved it.”

Pedevillano partnered with the Nova Community Center and Special Populations Coordinator Lori Koplin, and the center’s recreation leader, Pete Carrasco. In July, Carrasco started contacting the OBPD about the pickleball players’ requests to have another Open Court event.

“Due to popular demand, and people in the community really enjoying it, I knew we had to do this again,” Pedevillano said. “It’s these types of situations or events where it gives residents the opportunity to interact with officers outside of emergency situations. It humanizes us.”

Ormond Beach Public Information Officer Pauline Dulang said OBPD schedules multiple community outreach programs throughout the year. Annual events include DARE (Drug Abuse Resistance Education), National Night Out, Shop with a Cop and Coffee with a Cop, to name a few. They are currently holding their annual back-to-school supply drive through August.

If there’s anything that anybody knows about the Ormond Beach Police Department, community outreach is one of our biggest priorities, and that’s one of the initiatives that our chief (Jesse Godfrey) is a champion of." — PAULINE DULANG, Public Information Officer

“If there’s anything that anybody knows about the Ormond Beach Police Department, community outreach is one of our biggest priorities, and that’s one of the initiatives that our chief (Jesse Godfrey) is a champion of,” she said. “He loves the amazing relationship that OBPD officers have with our community.”

Pedevillano’s wife, Zobe, volunteered to help at the Open Court event, and their son, Salvatore, joined forces with his dad on the pickleball court. Zobe and Marc retired from the New York Police Department before moving to Ormond Beach seven years ago. Salvatore will be joining the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office this year.

Zobe said they did a lot of community outreach while working with the NYPD. When Marc went from being the Student Resource Officer at Ormond Beach Middle to the OBPD community outreach officer in January, they knew they wanted to get to know the locals and vice versa.

“A lot of people, when they see police officers, they think it’s a crime being committed,” Zobe said. “We do more than solve crimes. We have a lot of resources. We do this because we want the residents to meet us, and we need to meet them. If they have any concerns, we can do referrals if we don’t have the resources to help them out. That’s why we do stuff like this so they can get to know us and hopefully on a first-name basis.”

At the first pickleball event, participants who had never played the game were confused about the rules, so this time they recruited Terri Small, a certified pickleball coach at Pictona at Holly Hill, a 49-court pickleball facility. She was available throughout the event to answer questions, partner in matches if needed, and make official calls.

Small said she was thankful to Officer Pedevillano and the OBPD for making the event possible.

“It is a great opportunity to bring the community and police officers together,” she said. “Everyone was able to play alongside one another, have conversations and build positive relationships within the community. I really enjoyed being part of this event and appreciated the chance to see the connection between the department and the people they serve.”

Ormond Beach Middle seventh grader Thomas Martino and his uncle Benjamin Stemberger have been playing pickleball for a couple of years. Martino said they came out because they really enjoy playing the sport.

“And we’re going to bring the fire, the heat and the energy (on the courts),” Stemberger said.

Ormond Beach City Commission Zone 4 candidate Amber Bobak admittedly had never played pickleball before attending the Open Court event.

“What better way for us to be able to communicate and find out what each other enjoys, than to be with each other,” she said. “In a fun way. Not in a debate way. I could get into all of the analytic, political, down-to-the-nitty-gritty stuff if I needed to, but our everyday residents just want to know that we care about them and what’s happening in their day-to-day lives.”

Pedevillano said the first half of his career with the NYPD was great, but the sentiment during the second half  was not always pro-police. He said participating in events such as Open Court gives the younger officers opportunities to interact with the community in positive ways.

“Especially in Ormond Beach, our community really likes us,” he said. “They support us, and I don’t want to see our younger officers lose track of that. I want them to understand that this is a great community. These residents love us, and if we can come out there and interact with them and play a little pickleball or have a cup of coffee, it helps that positive impact … I definitely see a lot of value in it.”

 

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