The Sarnia Pickleball Club’s inaugural tournament was a ‘smashing’ success, says director Mike Barron.
“It was great — Lambton College was a great facility,” Barron told the Journal of the Spring Smash held over the weekend. “In pickleball, if you can have your tournament run on time, you’re doing something right.”
Barron was pleased with how smooth the weekend went, and is hopeful this will be a good step forward in securing a home for the growing club.
“The biggest thing we have to do, is thank the volunteers,” he added.
Community support ranged from the volunteers to the local businesses that helped out, including Sarnia Produce, Kern Water, Giresi’s Pizza and Burger Factory.
The tournament featured 18 categories, with five over and under 60 categories, and eight categories for mixed play as well.
Players came from all over Ontario including Hamilton and Barrie, as well players from Port Huron and Pittsburgh, Barron said.
“Most tournaments in Ontario are a three-game guarantee, whereas in our tournament, we gave a four-game guarantee,” he said, adding that it gives participants more value for their dollar, and helps with registration numbers.
“The whole reason why we did the tournament,” explains Barron, “was to give exposure to the club and community, but really, the funds and the proceeds are going towards a permanent home.”
Barron says the club membership base is 400 while they search for a place to play. The club partnered with Degroots in the winter, which gave them a place to start the club and gain interest, but now are looking for a permanent home.
Barron hopes that could lead to hosting regional tournaments, and even provincial and national tournaments in the future.
Currently they are renting space out in Blackwell Park, but are hoping to eventually have a permanent home, like the lawn bowling club and tennis clubs.
“The fact we have 400 members and not a place to play, is a bit of a rubik's cube,” said Barron.
“The province runs regional tournaments, so with the proper facilities we could host a provincial tournament, and once we can do that, we can look at a national tournament.”
The Spring Smash was also a step forward for those hoping to play at a regional or higher level, as the tournament was a Pickleball Canada sanctioned event.
“Players that played will now have a Pickleball Canada rating,” Barron said of the all ages sport.
The youngest participant in the tournament was 15, while the oldest were players in their 70’s.
“Since we started the club, that’s one of the things we’ve said — Pickleball is a game where from the age of seven to 71, you can have a level game.”
The club is certainly looking forward to holding more events, especially after the success of their first tournament.
“The weekend was a great success due in part to the players that played, the volunteers and the sponsors.” Said Barron.
“We just need to be thankful for all the things that came together to make it a great weekend.”
For more information or to register with the Sarnia Pickleball Club, visit their website.