by [email protected] | Aug 27, 2012 | Tournament and Clinic Highlights
The number of players just keeps getting bigger and bigger at the Royal Oak Michigan 2012 Summer Pickleball Tournament.
This was my third year in a row to play the Royal Oak tournament and I’m more impressed each time I go. This year they dedicated this beautiful 8 court complex to one of the great ambassadors of Michigan pickleball, Pat Sullivan.
Nancy Robertson, Marilyn Holladay and a host of fantastic people whom unfortunately I can’t name, put on a great party for us. The matches go on court smoothly and the lunch was outstanding. (Thanks to Sandy Simon’s wife, – forgive me if her name isn’t Linda, for the great Snickerdoodles).
Other than a masseuse when we are done, you can’t ask for anything more than this great tournament offered up. I would highly recommend you include this one on your yearly pickleball tournament schedule.
By the way, my son Josh and I managed a 4th place finish. People like Jim Hackenburg, Jeff Christman, Bart Ford and Al Hager just got in our way. 🙂 Thanks to everyone for a great time.
See all the Royal Oak Pickleball Tournament results here.
by [email protected] | Aug 8, 2012 | Tournament and Clinic Highlights
Here is a sure sign that a town is taking off with pickleball. Brookville, Indiana, population 2500, sent 9 players to the 2012 Middletown, Ohio pickleball tournament and came home with 3 medals.
Saturday August 4th saw Jack Froman and Bob Ruetz losing their very first tournament match, only to race through the losers bracket to make it all the way back to the Gold Medal match before losing againin the men’s 3.5 bracket. Great job Jack and Bob. 
Also losing in the opening round was Rodney Grubbs and Jeff Siebert, but again this 5.0 duo dominated the losers bracket to make it all the way back to the play the winner of the winner’s bracket. In the Gold Medal match, Jeff and Rodney defeated Jim Hackenberg and Patrick McPhail in two straight games to give them their first loss of the tournament. However, Hackenberg and McPhail prevailed in the final match 15-10. Another silver medal for our Brookville club. 
Also having a great tournament were Mike Schwartz and JT Schulze. This great men’s team from Northern Kentucky had a great day in the 5.0 bracket and came away with the Bronze medal.
Veteran mixed doubles team, Karen and Rodney Grubbs lost two straight matches in the Mixed 5.0 bracket to earn a day of relaxation. 🙂
Also competing in their very first tournament were Brenda Lee and Donna Pence. Great job ladies. Very proud of you!
Special thanks to Brookville Pickleball Club co-founder Marilyn Hedrick for coming out to support all our Brookville players. It is great to have fans courtside.
And thanks to Pro-Lite Sports for making great paddles. The medal stands were full of Pro-Lite Graphite Magnums and Blasters.
Brookville now has four official outdoor pickleball courts and play every Tuesday and Friday evening. To see location and times, visit www.BrookvillePickleball.com
by [email protected] | Jul 18, 2012 | Tournament and Clinic Highlights
Congratulations to every Canadian Pickleball player on the completion of the first ever Canadian National tournament which was held in Abbotsford, B.C. 168 players from Canada the USA attended. CLICK HERE to read the full results:
by [email protected] | Jul 8, 2012 | Tournament and Clinic Highlights
High School Pickleball for a Cause…
Submitted by Shawn Morton, Phys Ed Teacher, Upper St. Clair High School, Pennsylvania. Reprinted with permission.
Here at Upper St. Clair High School students have a pickleball unit each year in their PE classes and are ranked for motivation. Four years ago we decided to run a pickleball tournament that included the entire high school. We also wanted to raise money for worthy causes. We held the tournament right after finals because it would be the last day the seniors were in school and classes would not be interrupted. We decided to raise money for a program called kids helping kids where students from our school travel to the Dominican Republic and to volunteer. Projects include building aqueducts and installing water purification systems to bring water to remote villages where each family has to take buckets down to a river. Past projects included building additions to preschool centers and providing concrete floors to families that live on dirt. Medical and dental supplies are also provided each year.
What started as an afternoon tournament has grown into a two-day in-school field trip. The first day 160 students participated in mixed doubles. The following day boys’ doubles and girls’ doubles drew 280 students. Overall more than 400 students and a handful of teachers participated. Students were asked to pay a signup fee, which covered equipment and prizes; the remaining $3000 was donated to kids helping kids. A friend graciously donated tee-shirts for each competitor and many students began wearing matching outfits and crazy costumes for the events. The sport of pickleball has grown wildly in our area and we now compete annually against local Chartiers Valley HS. Kids are purchasing their own paddles and courts are being played on outside of the school day. Pickleball is an awesome lifetime activity and has become a major part of our PE program.
Extra Note From Rocket: Upper St. Clair is a great example of a school giving their students the pickleball tools that will help them stay active for a lifetime. Great job Upper St. Clair! Oh, and real nice job on the fundraising! Pickleball Rocks!
by [email protected] | Jun 28, 2012 | Tournament and Clinic Highlights
From the viewpoint of Josh Grubbs:
The whole Grubbs family traveled down to Terre Haute to participate in the 5th annual Vlasic Classic pickleball tournament.
My family includes myself (Rockets son!), my wife Abby (6 months pregnant), and my two year old son Brandon.
The weekend started out meeting Grandpa and GG in Indianapolis where we left a car to car pool the rest of the way to Terre Haute.
We had to get to Terre Haute for the start of the 5.0 singles tournament late Friday afternoon. We got to the courts to set up our chairs under a shade tree and get Brandon familiar with the park. There is a playground and a basketball court perfect for Brandon to ride his four wheeler on. After warming up with the Rocket we wandered over to the scorer’s tent to check out the draw. I was in the opposite bracket as Dad and had to play three matches in the round robin format. I was glad for that, because with the heat being over 90 degrees, his wicked angles make you run…a lot.
The singles tournament went on until sunset making it hard to see the ball. Play was suspended till the next morning at which I had to make a decision. Wake up at the crack of dawn and play some more singles or sleep in and concentrate on doubles? Having GG at the tournament who would get up with my son if he woke up early made the decision easy. SLEEP IN!
The next morning, after a good nights rest, we head back to the courts to get ready for the start of the doubles tournament. My partner, Terre Haute resident Brad Bilyeu, warmed up and got ready for what would turn out to be a long day.
We started out in pool play and got off to a hot start both on and off the courts. The temperature that day was in the 90’s and felt even hotter on the court. Try telling a two year old to stay in the shade! We swept through the pool play without dropping a game. We even took two games off eventual champions Deli and Alvin Stinnett. After sweeping the pool play we received the number one overall seed.
We played well enough to get to the final four but ran out of steam. We weren’t prepared for the dink fest that took place against Lynn Carlson and Al Hager.
Now it was time to concentrate on the mixed doubles!
Time for the fun to begin! My wife is six months pregnant and one of the most competitive people you will ever meet. You don’t score 2,000 points in basketball and have your jersey retired at Bethel College without being a little competitive.
After warming up Sunday morning the tournament director yells out the first matches, “Grubbs and Grubbs!” We all just sit there and laugh since I am playing with Abby, my brother is playing with his wife Amy, and my dad is playing with my mom. All Grubbs and Grubbs teams! The Grubbs’ are taking over!
We finish pool play and received the third seed. Not bad for Abby having to carry a kid around in her belly and me on her back!
When the brackets were posted we found out we would be playing the Rocket and GG.
Now who is going to watch Brandon? Lucky for us there were about fifteen sets of grandparents who were missing their grandkids and jumped at the opportunity to watch Brandon even if it was only for twenty minutes. We played an episode of Mickey Mouse on the Ipad and headed out to the courts.
It was a long hard fought battle but after a long weekend, youth eventually prevailed. GG wasn’t to upset because now she could just watch Brandon the rest of the time.
We eventually lost in the final four after a great day of pickleball with my wife. Abby was definitely the talk of the tournament with how well she played being six months pregnant.
We had another great time playing in Terre Haute and spending time with family. Hopefully next time the Grubbs’ will bring home a little more hardware.
Can’t wait till next year. As Dad always says, “Pickleball Rocks!“
by [email protected] | May 29, 2012 | Tournament and Clinic Highlights
The whole Grubbs family traveled down to Terre Haute to participate in the 5th annual Vlasic Classic pickleball tournament.
My family includes myself (Rocket’s son!), my wife Abby (6 months pregnant) and my two year old son Brandon. Plus my mom and brother Zack and his wife Amy played as well.
The weekend started out meeting Grandpa and GG in Indianapolis where we left a car to car pool the rest of the way to Terre Haute.
We had to get to Terre Haute for the start of the 5.0 singles tournament late Friday afternoon. We got to the courts to set up our chairs under a shade tree and get Brandon familiar with the park. There was a playground and a basketball court perfect for Brandon to ride his four wheeler on. After warming up with the Rocket (dad), we wandered over to the scorer’s tent to check out the draw. I was in the opposite bracket as Dad and had to play three matches in the round robin format. I was glad for that, because with the heat being over 90 degrees, his wicked angles make you run…a lot.
The singles tournament went on until sunset making it hard to see the ball. Play was suspended till the next morning at which I had to make a decision. Wake up at the crack of dawn and play some more singles or sleep in and concentrate on doubles? Having GG at the tournament who would get up with my son if he woke up early made the decision easy. SLEEP IN!
The next morning, after a good night’s rest, we headed back to the courts to get ready for the start of the doubles tournament. My partner, Terre Haute resident and friend Brad Bilyeu, warmed up and got ready for what would turn out to be a long day.
We started out in pool play and got off to a hot start both on and off the courts. The temperature that day was in the 90’s and felt even hotter on the court. Try telling a two year old to stay in the shade! We swept through the pool play without dropping a game. We even took two games off eventual champions Deli and Alvin Stinnett. After sweeping the pool play we received the number one overall seed for the single elimination shootout.
We played well enough to get to the final four but ran out of steam. We definitely weren’t prepared for the dink fest that took place against Lynn Carlson and Al Hager.
Now it was time to concentrate on the mixed doubles!
Time for the fun to begin as I brought out my secret weapon! My wife is six months pregnant and one of the most competitive people you will ever meet. You don’t score 2,000 points in basketball and have your jersey retired at Bethel College without being a little competitive.
After warming up Sunday morning the tournament director yells out the first matches, “Grubbs and Grubbs!” We all just sit there and laugh since I am playing with Abby, my brother is playing with his wife Amy, and my dad is playing with my mom. All Grubbs and Grubbs teams! The Grubbs’ are taking over!
We finish pool play and received the third seed. Not bad for Abby having to carry a kid around in her belly and me on her back!
When the single elimination brackets were posted we found out we would be playing the Rocket and GG.
Now who is going to watch Brandon? Lucky for us there were about fifteen sets of grandparents who were missing their grandkids and jumped at the opportunity to watch Brandon even if it was only for twenty minutes. We played an episode of Mickey Mouse on the Ipad and headed out to the courts. Isn’t technology great!
The match against mom and dad was a long hard fought battle but after a long weekend, youth eventually prevailed. GG wasn’t too upset because now she could just watch Brandon the rest of the time.
Eventually we lost in the final four after a great day of pickleball with my wife. Abby was definitely the talk of the tournament with how well she played being six months pregnant.
We had another great time playing in Terre Haute and spending time with family. Hopefully next time the Grubbs’ will bring home a little more hardware.
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