2022 APP Plantation Open: Miami New Times

Association of Pickleball Professionals Hosts Its First Broward County Tournament 

World top-five player and Delray Beach local JW Johnson is in for the inaugural Plantation Open. Photo by Belinda Dettman

Among the notable pros gearing up for the Plantation Open is the number-two ranked player in the world, Zane Navratil, along with local pros JW Johnson and Johnny Goldberg. Between the pro and amateur brackets, Foster says the entrants’ ages range from 13 to 80, noting that “more and more, the younger generation is getting into pickleball, too.” Beyond the pro tournament, amateurs are divided into tournaments based on skill level. (Read More)

Boca Raton Tribune

Delray Beach Teen And Pompano Beach College Grad Win Gold Medal At Punta Gorda Pro Pickleball Tournament

Playing Only 4 Months With A 4.0 Amateur Rating Anna Bright Becomes Overnight Superstar

Boca Raton, FL – Last week, at the 2022 Association Of Pickleball Professionals (APP) Punta Gorda Open, Jorga Johnson, 15, and recent college grad Anna Bright, 22, shocked the pickleball world by winning the Pro Women’s Doubles Championship by beating the number one seated team, Simone Jardim and Corrine Carr, in the finals: 11-0, 11-4, 15-3. (Highlight reel with on court interview)  (Read More)

Delray Beach Teen And Pompano Beach College Grad Win Gold Medal At Punta Gorda Pro Pickleball Tournament

 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

              

Delray Beach Teen And Pompano Beach College Grad Win Gold Medal At Punta Gorda Pro Pickleball Tournament

Playing Only 4 Months With A 4.0 Amateur Rating Anna Bright Becomes Overnight Superstar

DELRAY BEACH, FL (March  3, 2022) -- Last week, at the 2022 Association Of Pickleball Professionals (APP) Punta Gorda Open, Jorga Johnson, 15, and recent college grad Anna Bright, 22, shocked the pickleball world by winning the Pro Women’s Doubles Championship by beating the number one seated team, Simone Jardim and Corrine Carr, in the finals: 11-0, 11-4, 15-3. (Highlight reel with on court interview) 

At 8-0 in the Gold Medal match, the commentators, Dominic Catalano and Lauren McLaughlin, just looked at each other and shook their heads in disbelief as to what they were witnessing. (Watch Clip)

Photo: Scott Golden interviews new Pickleball Professional Sensation Anna Bright

Anna talked about the moment she and Jorja won the match and what she did that night in a 1+ hour YouTube live stream session Tuesday. (Watch Clip) 

Interview Time Code List Excerpts

• 5:20 How did you get to pickleball?

• 6:55 The Pacific Crest Trail

• 17:34 Playing Women's Doubles with Jorja Johnson, 15

• 20:26 The 3rd Round: Vivienne David/Lee Whitwell

• 22:21 What is your key to success when playing top pros?

• 27:59 A Golden Pickle 11-0 Simone Jardim/Carrine Carr Gold Medal Match

• 31:29 Game 2 11-3

• 33:18 The Speed-Up Department

• 34:47 Game to 15 - Money, Winning, Focus, Hands Battle Drill

NOTE: A time code list of 36 topics have been created for the interview and is available in the YouTube comments. 

 

Anna also won a Gold Medal in Pro Women’s Singles. (Slow Motion Clip)

 

Jorja won a Bronze Medal in Pro Women’s Singles and another Bronze Medal in Pro Mixed Doubles with her brother JW Johnson, 19. 

JW won a Gold Medal in Men’s Singles and a Silver Medal with Dylan Frazier, 20, in Pro Men’s Doubles.  (Slow Motion Clip)

This week they will all be playing at the APP Plantation Open March 3-6 at Plantation Central Park. Anna and Jorja will be playing with different partners.

  

Follow Anna Bright’s Pro Pickleball journey on instagram.

 

Follow The Johnson Family Pro Pickleball journey on Facebook: 

 

• JW Johnson Pickleball

• Julie Johnson

• Jorja Johnson

 

Johnson Family Press Kit (Interviews, Articles, Schedule, Matches)

 

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2022 APP Masters Boca Raton, Florida: Press Release

 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Julie, JW and Jorja Johnson Make Sport History

              

Pro Pickleball Delray Beach Family Win Triple Crown Gold Medals At APP Boca Raton Masters 

DELRAY BEACH, FL (January  27, 2022) -- Last week, at the 2022 Association Of Pickleball Professionals (APP) $75,000 APP Masters in Boca Raton, Florida, JW, 19, Jorja, 15, and mom Julie Johnson won GOLD medals playing singles in the professional bracket.  

On Court Interview

John Davidson: Down 9-14 (Game to 15 win by 2), Natalie Bagby gave you a run for your money and had three match points that you successfully defended. How did you turn that around?

Julie Johnson:  You know,  it's just, play one point at a time. You can't control anything more than that. I think nothing more than:  

 

• Where I need to serve.  

• What I need to do. 

• Things like that. 

• I just try to stay focused. 

• Sometimes it works. 

• Sometimes it doesn't.

 

John: As we all know, you're the third Johnson today to take a pro gold medal in singles. Did that add any bit of pressure to you going into this match?

Julie:  John, let me tell you, all day long, that's all I've heard.  Even one of the refs said to me before the game started,  "you know you need to win the gold today"! My kids were like, "mom come on"!!!

I lost my first game and I thought, "Oh my gosh"!!!!! 

Anyway, in the end, I got it done the hard way.

 

John: Well, you know, you persevered through the challenges there in the last game to 15. Job well done, capturing gold. Is there anything you'd like to say before we go to all your fans worldwide?

Julie: Thank you for cheering for me. Thank you to all these guys who cheered for me all day in the freezing cold. Thank you APP Tour and thanks Olivia for letting us have John today and go lefties. (Watch Interview)

At the APP Red Carpet Masters Award Ceremony held Thursday January 20th, the Family Trio received awards for:  

• JW - 2021 Male Rookie Pro Of The Year 

• Jorja - 2021 Female Rookie Pro Of The Year

• Julie - 2021 Senior Female Pro Of The Year

  

 

Follow The Johnson Family Pro Pickleball journey on Facebook: 

 

• JW Johnson Pickleball

• Julie Johnson

• Jorja Johnson

 

Johnson Family Press Kit (Interviews, Articles, Schedule, Matches)

 

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2022 APP Tour Punta Gorda Open

 

Doubles 

• 33:58 Dylan Frazier/JW Johnson vs Nsekpong/Cabieses
• 4:05:23 JW Johnson/Dylan Frazier vs Dekel Bar/Kyle Yates
• 5:34:01 Anna Bright/Jorja Johnson vs Michelle Esquivel/Maggie Remynse
• 6:19:44 Anna Bright/Jorja Johnson vs Lee Whitwell/Vivienne David
• 7:40:39 Anna Bright/Jorja Johnson vs Simone Jardim/Corrine Carr (Gold)

Singles

1:26 JW Johnson vs F. Staksrud 1:48:58 JW Johnson vs Dylan Frazier

2:58:13 JW Johnson vs Zane Navratil 4:15:35 Jorja Johnson vs Anna Bright

0:01 Jorja Johnson vs Megan Fudge (Bronze) 1:06:19 JW Johnson vs Zane Navratil (Gold)

Mixed Doubles

• 2:12:04 JW Johnson/Jorja Johnson vs Dekel Bar/Vivienne David
• 5:26:01 Zane Navratil/Remynse vs JW Johnson/Jorja Johnson
• 5:47:56 JW Johnson/Jorja Johnson vs Dekel Bar/Vivienne David (Bronze)

Medals

• Jorja Gold Women's Doubles with Anna Bright
• Jorja/JW Bronze Mixed Doubles
• Jorja Bronze Singles
• JW Silver Men's Doubles with Dylan Frazier
• JW Gold Singles

2022 PPA Foot Solutions Arizona Grand Slam

 

Singles

• 2:32:32 Ben Johns vs JW Johnson
• 5:36:54 Ryan Sherry vs JW Johnson (Bronze)

Doubles

• 1:56:09 Ben Johns/Collin Johns vs JW Johnson/Dylan Frazier

Mixed Doubles

• Simone Jardim/Dylan Frazier vs Andrea Koop/JW Johnson
• 5:52:47 Ben Johns/Anna Leigh Waters vs JW Johnson/Andrea Koop
• 7:34:52 AJ Koller/Callie Smith vs JW Johnson/Andrea Koop (Bronze)

JW Medals

Singles Bronze

Pickleball Fire Podcast: How Distractions Can Impact Your Pickleball Game with Senior Pro Julie Johnson

Listen To The Podcast

Julie Johnson is not only one of the top senior professionals in the game. She is also the mother of JW and Jorja, both of whom are professional players, both being named rookie of the year by the APP. Julie talks about how JW chose Pickleball over tennis and why Jorja’s involvement in the sport is surprising. With so much going on, Julie can find herself distracted on the court, so she discusses how she is handling all of this.

In this episode, we discuss:

• How both of Julie’s children, JW and Jorja, surprised her when it came to Pickleball
• Why JW chose Pickleball over tennis and what his defining moment in Pickleball was
• What really bothers Julie when she is playing doubles in a tournament 
• What JW and Jorja said to her after they both won gold medals in singles in a tournament
• How much time do Julie and JW spend breaking down film
• How the family is learning how to handle distractions