Leavenworth Pickleball Prost! Tournament on tap for this weekend
"Sally and
The Sebring's were interested in forming a local pickleball club, similar to those popular at the retirement communities in
"I could see the club idea would not work, but that revenue could come in in the form of tournaments. I used to do USTA tournaments," she said. "I had a vision for the business aspect of it, and for the fun."
The more research she did, she could see pickleball was "on fire" all over the country. It would be a for-profit business, the
Ten percent of the proceeds go to Upper Valley Cares, she said.
"We have beautiful new courts here. The school district normally charges for use of the courts for organized sessions. I didn't see that as being viable. I entered into a partnership with the school district. Instead of paying per hour, I would give them 10-percent profit from the
For the past couple of months, Subido has spearheaded open pickleball play at the local courts. She would provide rackets and balls to those who needed them. Local interest in the sport has been steadily growing.
"The thing that is great about pickleball, you could be good having never picked up a racket in your life or played any sport. You can still have a great time. We have all different ages and athletic abilities. Everyone is having a blast," she said.
Her vision for the tournament was to attract players outside of
The Leavenworth Pickleball Prost! Tournament is this Saturday at the courts adjacent to
Initially, Subido opened the tournament to all skill levels, but it became clear that would not work because it would require 45 teams.
"We had plenty of teams, but they were all spread out. In other tournaments, they limit it 3, 3.5 and 4. The levels 1, 1.5 and 2 and 2.5 are considered brand new. Now, I've kept to the 3, 3.5 and 4s. We are easily able to fill those. Just in the last few days, quite a few teams have registered. Some divisions are quite large," she said.
The categories are women's doubles, men's doubles, and mixed doubles. It is the last weekend of
The tournament is sanctioned by the
"For sanctioned tournaments, all of the games have to be officiated, but you can request a forbearance where the officiating is in the medal match only. You only get that once. Most of the games will be self-officiated, but the medal matches will be officiated. You also need medics, licensing and insurance," Subido said.
For Subido, this tournament is only the beginning.
"Part of the vision of the company is to have a tournament once a month. In the warmer months, we'll have two tournaments a month. In the winter months, we have just as many indoor courts in the school gyms. We're very fortunate. During the summer, we could incorporate indoors and outdoors," she said.
By the way, the Prost! in the tournament title is German for Cheers!
Reach
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