Sharon Hadley
PebbleCreek Pickleball Club is one of the largest pickleball clubs in the country with over 1,400 members. What that affords us is great competition among our members, but it also prepares our members to compete at the highest levels. From Dec. 7 to 14, PebbleCreek Pickleball Club had 20 of our members compete at the Margaritaville USA Pickleball National Championships held at Indian Wells Tennis Center in Indian Wells, Calif.
More than 2,200 people, from all over the USA and other countries, participated in the National Championships in over 180 age and skill brackets. The tournament included men, women, and mixed doubles and men and women’s singles for each skill level (3.0, 3.5, 4.0, 4.5, 5.0), and had brackets divided by age (junior, 19+, 35+, 50+, 55+, 60+, 65+, 70+, 75+, and 80+).
This was also Nationals for the professional pickleball players. The pro matches were outstanding highlighted by 14-year-old wunderkind Anna Leigh Waters, who won Pro Singles and Pro Women’s Doubles with her mother, Leigh Waters.
To gain automatic entry into this prestigious event, participants had to qualify by winning a Gold medal in a regional qualifying tournament, so this tournament represented the best from every region in the country.
PebbleCreek Pickleball Medalists
* Gold: Mixed Doubles 4.5, 50+, Andrea Dilger and Steve Manns
* Gold: Women’s Doubles 4.5, 70+, Lyla Reibel and Darlene Walker
* Gold: Men’s Doubles 4.0/4.5, 75+, Mike Crabtree and Rick Reed
* Gold: Mixed Doubles 4.0, 65+, Dennis Poppe and Linda Kirkpatrick
* Silver: Men’s Doubles 3.0/3.5, 75+, John Donavan and Dean Goupil
* Silver: Mixed Doubles 3.0/3.5, 75+, John Donavan and Carol Nakao
* Bronze: Men’s Doubles 3.0, 60+, Marty Aalto and Jonathan Hensley
Other PebbleCreek Pickleball Club participants: Renee deLassus, Greg Wellington, Reese Hass, Sarah Marsh, Linda Tompkins, Mark Buckingham, Traci Buckingham, Roberta Diles, Chris Johnson, Denise Johnson, and Wade Johnson.