Roger BelAir

Roger BelAir is an entrepreneur and author. He is known for introducing the game of pickleball into jails and prisons in US.

Career
In the 1980s Roger was a Vice President of Seattle-First National Bank, the largest bank in the Pacific Northwest at that time. While maintaining his banking career being with Nick Briney he founded BelAIr & Briney, an investment company. In 1984 the firm was profiled in the cover story of Money magazine.

In 1987, he published his book titled  Make a Fortune Buying Discount Mortgages  at Doubleday publishers. This was followed by ‘’How to Borrow Money from a Banker: A Business Owner’s Guide '' published by the American Management Association. The success of the banking book led to Roger being a popular presenter at business conventions around the country on the topics of finance and dealing with financial institutions.

Involvement in Pickleball
In 2017 CBS's 60 Minutes aired a segment on Sheriff Tom Dart who runs Chicago's Cook Country Jail. While watching the program, Roger observed many of the inmates were simply playing cards or watching TV and decided to introduce pickleball in the prisons.

He contacted Sheriff Dart and offered his services which were accepted. The introduction of the game at the jail proved to be a huge success. Disciplinary problems were reduced and gang members who previously wouldn't talk to each other played pickleball together. His introduction of the game in Chicago was featured in a front-page story in USA Today. The success of his program in Chicago led Roger to various prisons in various states.

Pickleball is currently the fastest-growing sport in the country. Others now are replicating Roger's efforts by teaching the game at prisons in their communities.