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My Weekend at the Vlasic Classic
I just returned from the strongest midwest pickleball tournament I have played in in my 5 years of playing. The 5th Annual Vlasic Classic in Terre Haute, Indiana.
I have played better individual players in many tournaments around Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky and Michigan, but never have I played in one where everyone was this good. Whether it was singles, doubles or mixed, there was not a pushover to be found, and Lord knows I looked. 🙂
It started with the men’s singles on Friday at 5:30. Eight players entered the 5.0 draw which was divided into two round robin flights. Each match will be 2 games to 11. You receive a point for each game you win. Match time temperature? About 95. Ok maybe less, but it felt like it. Immediately I picked up on a foreboding sign. I only saw one player in the pack within 30 years of my age. Uh Oh!!!
So I walked out onto the court,excited for my first match. Got off to a great start if you call a one hour singles match great. I was exhausted already.
Round number two is against a 20-something former tennis player. No big deal, I’m a former tennis player too. Only challenge is I’m a 57 year old former tennis player. He seems a bit nervous playing against an old veteran like me and I slowly build a 10-2 lead in the first game. By this time, my chest is pounding pretty good and I’ve already burned my two available timeouts. And I think he senses I’m running on fumes. I jokingly offer to purchase one of his yet-to-be used timeouts, but he’s not selling.
Anyhow, I’ll save you all the agonizing details of his comeback, but he wins the first game 14-12. Bummer.
But with a few strategically placed ice cubes and armed with two new timeouts for game two, I put together a 11-6 second game win. I consider this match a victory even after blowing the 10-2 first game lead.
Third match of the day is against the defending singles champion from last year. Looks to be about 21. Tall and lightning fast. Terrible combination for an opponent. 🙂
Again, I methodically worked my way through the first game. I used every angle known to man as I tried find a way to get the ball past him, but to no avail. Two timeouts later, I lose the first game 11-8. But now I have a dilemna. I’m starting to get the chills, I can’t hear out of my left ear and my chest is pounding way beyond normal recovery time.
Aaack! I hate getting old, but I know it beats the alternative. I grudgingly withdraw from the rest of the singles competition. End of day one.
Day two I am playing with my youngest son Zack in his very first men’s double’s tournament. Again the 5.0 division is a two flight round robin format which will be used to seed a single elimination bracket tournament for the 3 medals.
First match time temperature? About 105! Ok maybe less, but it was hot even at 9am.
Let me say at this point, Zack is a great player and he played extremely well all day. And he did get his money’s worth since every team decided to test the new guy over and over and over again.
We didn’t do too well in the long, long round robin, ( 1 win and 5 losses) but by the time we hit the main tournament draw we were ready.
Not faring well in the round robin, meant we drew the number 2 seed as our first match opponents. No problem, Zack and I both played well and managed to force a good number of mistakes from two young guns from northern Illinois. Final score, we win 11-6, 11-6. On to the final four where we meet the defending doubles champions from last year. Father and son team Alvin and Deli Stinnett are always a handful and this time would be no different.
This match started off on the wrong foot as Team Stinnett scores the first 6 points. Allowing the other team to grab a 6 point lead in a game to 11 points is usually not conducive to winning, but we took a quick time out and came backing firing on all cylinders. Final first game score? Good Guys 11, the other guys 6. We had completed a great comeback and the hopes of carrying the momentum into the second game. But no. We dropped the second game 11-8 and unfortunately the third game 11-9.
Wish we could have squeezed that last one out to get on the medal stand, but overall a real good first showing for Zack and me. Finished up the long day around 8pm.
Day three was time for mixed doubles. The Grubbs’ are well represented with Josh and wife Abby, Zack with wife Amy, and me and my bride of 35 years, Karen. Here’s a quick video to introduce you to the Grubbs family.
First match temperature? About 125!!!! Ok, you get the point, it was a hot weekend.
Karen and I went 1-3 in our round robin so we would ultimately wind up with a pretty bad slot in the single-elimination tournament. More on that in a minute.
There are two main stories in the Grubbs family. One is the talk of the tournament as Josh and Abby, who is 5 months pregnant, are making life miserable for everyone. People are amazed at how well Abby is playing, especially when everyone else is wilting in the heat. Josh and Abby make it to the final four before bowing out in an amazingly entertaining 3 game match.
But people are also talking about the other Grubbs girl. She comes out of nowhere to win the Women’s 3.5 Silver medal, teaming with Atlanta native, Pat Dunn. Zack and Amy made it to the final four, but because of a church commitment back in Fort Wayne, resigned early. Nice second tournament ever for them. They could be a force in the future.
Back to Karen and me. So how did we bow out? By drawing the powerhouse of Josh and Abby Grubbs in the the first round, that’s how. We made a parental decision to hit basically everything to Josh so as not to wear our pregnant daughter-in-law out. Strategy worked great. Abby was fine at the end of the match and we were on the sidelines cheering them on, plus baby sitting our grandson while his parents played on.
A win for everyone!!!!!!!!!
If you ever want to play in a great midwest tournament, the Vlasic Classic is the one. Pickleball Rocks in Terre Haute!
Inaugural Louisville Tournament A Huge Success
Southern hospitality was at its finest the weekend of January 27-28 at EP Tom Sawyer State Park in Louisville, Kentucky. The following post and results were provided by the fabulous Oakle “Pete” Petrey.
The E.P. “Tom” Sawyer Pickleball Club
E.P. “Tom” Sawyer State Park
Louisville, Kentucky
Pickleball News Vol. CCIII
January 30, 2012
contact: [email protected]
The gym was rocking last weekend as Rodney (Rocket) Grubbs led a strong group of out-of-town players to the Inaugural E. P. “Tom” Sawyer State Park Pickleball Tournament. And, they took a big chunk of the medals home with them!
Rocket, a nationally prominent player, teamed with Mike Schwartz, of Northern Kentucky, to win the MENS DOUBLES. His wife, Karen, playing with Cheryl Wyatt, of Middletown, Ohio, picked up the second place medal in LADIES DOUBLES. Cheryl, playing with Pete George, also from Middletown,
placed second in the MIXED DOUBLES event, won by Niles Cline and Diana Phillips, of Northern Kentucky.
Local players managed to hold there own, however, winning medals in each of the four events. Brenda Ferrell and Francie Kammer won the LADIES DOUBLES, and the team of John Tackett and Susan Kenney* edged out Ron Knorpp and Paul Cline for second place in MENS DOUBLES. Susan*and Chrissy Haywood finished third in MIXED DOUBLES.
*Although definitely not male, Susan Kenney was coaxed into playing in the MENS and MIXED DOUBLES because the men were short one player. One pundit named her the “Boy named Sue, Sounds like a good name for a song?
All of us are indebted to John Tackett for his herculean efforts in launching what, hopefully, will become an annual event at Sawyer Park. We gratefully acknowledge all the work done by many of the Sawyer Park staff, led by Zack Potts and Nick Price.
Bill and Nancy deserve special thanks. They arrived at 7:15 a.m. to welcome everyone.
The Hospitality Room was a huge success and all of the many who made contributions earned our gratitude of a job very well done.
Last, but not least was the appreciative crowd that supported the players. The WAVE that went around the gym several times was really great.
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WOW, Pickleball Rocks at the 2011 Nationals!
Wow, wow and yes, WOW!
Can’t think of a more appropriate way to describe the experience at my first National Pickleball Tournament.
What a great week of fun, friendship and pickleball competition. 
From the moment we pulled into the parking lot, I knew this was going to be fun. Big white tents full of vendors selling anything you can put the word pickleball on. Pickleball paddles everywhere and the main corporate sponsor, My Retirement Direct, giving out goody bags stuffed with tshirts, water bottles and yes, retirement info.
First stop, the registration tent, where they were actually expecting me. 🙂 Apparently my entry form did get to the right people. Next, I filled out my free USAPA raffle tickets and dropped them off with one of the great ambassadors of our sport, Nancy Jordan, who was excitedly manning he USAPA membership tent. Hope we added some members this week. I’m sure we did.
Next I got the lay of the land with a quick walk around the beautiful Pickleball complex at Sun City Festival. 18 courts had been carefully cleaned and lined for this great event.
It was fun to see the arrival of old midwest friends like Don and Haroline Walker, Lynn Carlson, Al Hager and Jim and Yvonne Hackenburg. It was a great showing for the midwest as all of them took home national hardware. Congratulations guys!
It was equally fun to meet up again with some of my newer friends whom I’d recently met at the San Diego tournament at Oceanside. Ken Follis, Kevin Martzolf, Sue and Dominic Ambrosino, Randy and Jennifer Zbinden, and Bev and Bob Youngren. What great ambassadors they are for California pickleball.
As for the competition??? There was plenty.
My partner and I got our eyes opened immediately by dropping our first match. Apparently starting slow, and continuing slow, doesn’t get you far in a tournament like this. 🙂
We did manage to come back and win our second match before bowing out much earlier than planned.
In singles, I managed a bit better. I won a couple close contests and lost a very tough battle with the eventual Gold Medalist. Congratulations Dan Wheeler on your Singles Gold Medal. Well deserved.
It was all fun, but I believe the highlight of the week was just the incredible bunch of new friends that we made along the way.
Once again, and I know I’m preaching to the choir here, pickleball wins because of the people who play it and support it.
Thank you everyone for a tremendous first National tournament.
I promise I will be back.
Because PICKLEBALL ROCKS !!!
Upper St. Clair End of Year Pickleball Tournament Results
Congratulations to the winners of the recent Upper St. Clair High School End of Year Pickleball Tournament: Boys – Mike Mondelewski and Joel Klein; Girls – Claudia Escribens and Megan Adamo; Co-ed – Shane McMurtry and Hanna Wilhelm.
Gold With A Twist
Gold With A Twist
by Sarah White
Let’s start on the night of May 7, 2011. Remembering the date is easy because I was the Maid of Honor in my friend’s wedding. All was going well. There was dancing, toasts, and good company. The time came, though, for the party to end. So, Jenn left first to go get the car. I said my good-byes, gave out hugs, and left with a smile on my face.
And, then, it happened.
I was almost down the stone steps of the historic villa when I rolled my ankle and slammed knee first to the sidewalk below.
Yes, I may have cursed.
I remember sitting there, staring up into the lights of the reception, hearing people’s laughter and thinking, “Ouch. I just really sprained my ankle.”
I’ve sprained both ankles enough times to know what it feels like, and I knew this one was a doozy.
I limped to the car and explained what happened to Jenn, who said, “Well, I guess you won’t be playing in the Pickleball tournament in Terra Haute.”
My heart sank. I had planned to play singles, doubles, and mixed doubles. Instead, that weekend, I ended up at the score table with a wrap around my ankle.
Still, I had hopes to play in Huntley the next weekend.
That Friday, Jenn and I met up in Huntley, and for the first time since the spraining, I ran on the ankle. It hurt more than I thought it would, and that night, it swelled up. The next day in the car, Jenn and I decided that we would have to tell the tournament director that I wouldn’t be able to play.
I cried.
The next day, the tournament director came around a few times, and I kept thinking, “I need to tell her that I can’t play, so that she can adjust the brackets or maybe find Jenn someone else to play with.”
But the words always stopped at the back of my throat. I wasn’t ready to quit just yet. My ankle felt strangely better, and I practiced on it with some fellow Picklers. Jenn and I played some warm-up doubles matches. We hadn’t played together in weeks. I hadn’t played Pickleball in over a month.
D-day. Sunday. We grabbed our paddles, tightened the laces on our shoes, and we stepped onto the courts ready for whatever the day would bring.
To our surprise, we played well our first match. In our second match, Connie and Rita, a formidable Rockford pair, gave us a good workout. All the while, we kept a close eye on Margaret and Tammy and their host of opponents.
Then, we squared off with the team that had the courts buzzing. They were two lean, mean Picklers with knee-braces and plenty of power. Somehow with our combination of spin shots and net play, we defeated them easily.
We made it to the final! Win or lose, we would medal–something we thought would be impossible the day before.
Everyone else had finished play and gathered on the bleachers around the court. Electric fans hummed but did little to cut the stuffy heat of that gymnasium. The sweat dripped off our foreheads.
We had to play the ladies with the knee-braces and deep tans that reflected their hours of Pickleball play already this summer. This time, though, they were ready for us.
They easily took two games from us. No matter what we tried, they seem prepared.
We had one more chance. Because we had entered the final undefeated, we would play one last game to fifteen points for the title.
Jenn and I drank our water and discussed strategy.
Still, the ladies jumped to a 4-0 lead. The gym felt even stuffier and suffocating.
We managed to stay fairly close to them and reached a score of 8-6 (their lead). But, suddenly, our strategies and shots shifted; we were making a dent. I was ready for the lobs. I flattened out the spin. Jenn made strong shots from the net.
The momentum had changed.
We clawed our way to 8-8, and the game held at that score for seemingly hours.
And, then, it happened.
The score turned in our favor.
We would eventually win 15-9. We had ground out a win. Our doggedness was now becoming the stuff of legend. We never gave up and played every point like it was the first.
In tennis, they call it “winning ugly.” In Pickleball, we just call it “winning.”
Our adventure, though, was not over. We had to travel back to Rockford from Huntley. Normally, such a drive can be taken through scenic back country roads. On this particular day, the sky towards Rockford was a deep purple–not unlike the color of my sprain.
We had heard that Rockford was experiencing a tornado warning, and we would later learn that there were three F1 tornadoes in the area through which we drove.
Such news did not surprise us, though, because as we drove, we could see the laden shelf cloud in the sky. Something was not right in the air. It brought to mind the famed quote from Macbeth, “Something wicked this way comes…”
Debris started blowing across the road, and as we looked to our left and right, we could see large swirls of dirt rising up from the fields. We drove through a wall of loose dirt; our visibility to reduced to mere feet.
We stayed calm, and Jenn powered us through the storm.
As we arrived in Rockford to find no electricity and plenty of downed tree limbs, we definitely knew that these were two experiences that we would remember for the rest of our lives.
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