Jane Steele
If you drove by the pickleball courts on Wednesday, February 10 you saw all the activity going on with our 404 tournament players and more than 200 spectators. Everyone was greeted at the front gate by our volunteers and directed to the courts. There they found coffee and the delicious baked goods made by our club members and the community. The 130 plus volunteers certainly made all of our guests feel welcome and helped make the tournament a welcoming place.
The first day of the tournament began with the Opening Ceremonies with our Tournament Director Mark Clark and the Pickleball Club President Pat Murphy welcoming all the players, spectators and volunteers. Nancy MacKellar sang the Canadian Anthem followed by Ken Porter singing the American National Anthem. Play began at 8:00 a.m. and ended under the lights at 7:30 p.m. with the finals of the Men’s Doubles 3.5/Age 50 to 59. It was a very exciting way to end the first day of the tournament.
The afternoon of the first day was very exciting for all the players. All the players were entered into a drawing for a GoPro Hero. They had to be present to win. The last drawing of the day went through five names before the winner was found. You have never seen anyone as happy as the winner. He was jumping for joy. A total of 12 GoPros were given during the three days.
We had a special treat at the opening ceremonies on Thursday when seven-year-old Jim Bob Baumgartner sang our National Anthem. His grandma, Diane Baumgartner from Bend Pickleball Club, played in the tournament. That afternoon we had the sounds of our steel drummer, Sean Mureau, playing in the background while people were enjoying pickleball cake pops. Once again the final match was played under the lights.
Friday brought all the ladies out to play. We met a group of ladies who flew in from San Antonio, Texas just for the tournament. Darleen Johnson, 80 years old and a top player, said they all loved it out here and wanted to thank the community for making them feel welcome. More than 100 spectators watched our own Jill Lewis and Lori Orth battle it out for first place. It was so exciting and our gals got the Silver.
We must thank Melissa McCurley from Pickleball Tournaments and Sandy and Terry Brown, the referee coordinators, for keeping us on track and on time. And we couldn’t have had such a successful tournament without all of our volunteers and the support of the community. A special thanks to PebbleCreek Facilities and Catering Departments for all your hard work.
Pickleball Nation posted a video on their website to show our tournament. If you would like to watch it, here is the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=2&v=TZPayuUkiS0. You’ll hear what they had to say about the tournament, food and vendor town.
We want to congratulate all our club members who won medals in the tournament. To see the tournament results, go to: http://www.pickleballtournaments.com/cinfo.pl?tid=514.
Thanks again to all involved in this great first tournament.
PebbleCreek Pickleball Tournament Committee; Pat Murphy, Mark Clark, Dennis Makinen, Paula Handrup, Kathy Brown and Jane Steele