Zion Park District Pickleball Tournament Ends With A Smash!!

The first ever pickleball tournament took place at the Zion Community Center in Illinois.  It was held on Sunday, December 11^th, 2011 from 9am – 1pm.  The event was an interchangeable partner doubles tournament.  The skill level was 3.5 and above and was open to 20 participants.  The event filled up fast!  I was pleased with all the participants.

Participants came from Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin.  Some of the cities were Rockford, St. Charles, Zion, Libertyville, Wheeling, etc…  Some other USAPA Ambassadors showed up like Tom Roebuck from Indiana and Dick Larson from Chicagoland Suburbs.  The ball used was a lime green jugs ball and USAPA rules were implemented.  There were 4 courts with USAPA portable nets. 

The format consisted of two rounds of play, one being the preliminary and one being the final round.  Every court in the preliminary had 5 players on it of similar abilities.  So all courts were even as far as ability.  All Players played 8 times, 4 times in the preliminary and 4 times in the final round.  Everyone played to 15 by 1 and switched sides at 8.  Moreover, every participant got to sit out once in each round.

However you did in the preliminary round determined what court you went to in the final round, red, green, blue or orange.  Each court had one winner.  The top 3 winners on each court were:

RED                                  GREEN                              BLUE                                 ORANGE

1  Sebastian Krywicki         1  Ben Park                        1  Larry White                   1  Tom Angelos

2  Jessie Sandoval               2  Rusty Rose                     2  John Freed                    2  Felicia Mascatelli

3  Tony Cartwright              3  David Kinser                  3  Tammy Dean                 3  Mary Edwards                

I am very proud of all the people who came out to promote this lifelong sport.  I was very pleased with all the participants’ competitive spirit, sportsmanship, and respect of other players.   Everyone enjoyed themselves and had a great time.  If given an opportunity, this fun sport named Pickleball will continue to grow. 

Thanks to the USAPA, thanks to Zion Park District, thanks to the volunteers and outside ambassadors, and a special thanks to everyone who participated in the tournament!

Click here for complete results.

USAPA Ambassador  /  Tournament Director  / Zion Park District

Richard A. Tandecki