Players at the Pickleball Connection's first tournament look for the ball during a close match.
Pickleball players around northeast Wisconsin converged in Manitowoc for a day of fundraising and tournament play.
The pickleball tournament was held at the Pickleball Connection, located just behind the Connection Church on North Rapids Road.
The Shake and Bake on the Lake Tournament had four different tournaments with 70 people during the weekend, which included duo players made up of two women, a man and a woman, and two men.
Club President Gary Underwood tells Seehafernews.com that the newer courts were built to provide access to playing pickleball all year round.
“We played outside a lot here, and you only have a short season,” he explained. “You can basically play seven months a year. So, what do you do the other five months? The southern states have that advantage that they have more hours available. So it’s a trend to build more and more courts inside.”
Factors like wind, temperature, and light can also be controlled inside.
Money was also raised for keeping up the pickleball courts at Rheaume and Washington Parks.
Underwood noted, “There are a lot of people learning at Rheaume Park and then by the time it gets to fall where the season is over outside, we have an influx of members here.”
While pickleball seems to look like tennis, it’s actually closer to a big version of table tennis, or ping pong.
Underwood says what’s also neat is that the sport is always evolving.
“The sport has continually improved based on players’ input and making it into a better game,” he describes. “But the court dimensions haven’t changed. The basic moves haven’t really changed much since 1965.”
Staff of the Pickleball Connection were complimentary of the players, saying that the Clipper City was turned into a hotspot and the energy was electric.
You can find the results of the tournament on the Pickleball Connection Facebook page.
