INNISFAIL – Today’s pickleball craze that heralds the game as North America’s fasting growing sport has caught up with Innisfail.
And local pickleball fans are determined to keep it fun.
Innisfail Pickleball Club members hosted the 2nd annual Innisfail Pickleball Tournament on July 19 and 20 in both the blue and red rinks at the Innisfail Twin Arena.
But for fun's sakes it was also billed as the Weekend Extravaganza Tournament.
“We want to keep this tournament fun, right?’’’ exclaimed Ray Cimolini, who at the youthful age of 71 is a local club coordinator, and avid player of more than five years. “That was our goal, right.? We wanted everybody to enjoy playing pickleball.”
And to top it off each player who was won a medal received a super large chocolate chip cookie from Divots Restaurant at the Innisfail Golf Club.
“That made it so fun. People would say, ‘oh, was that ball in or out?’ And somebody would say, ‘look, who cares? We're only playing for a cookie,” said Cimolini.
But fun with pickleball is always paramount.
Similar in many ways to tennis, pickleball is considered one of the easiest sports to play.
Games are played on a small court and can be completed in just 15 minutes.
Equipment costs are low, just a paddle, decent playing shoes and a lightweight, hollow plastic ball.
“Pickleball courts are about half the size of a tennis court, so you're not doing as much running. It's equal in its strategy to tennis,” said Cimolini. “Any age can play it, and you can also play against any age.”
Innisfail’s adult mixed tourney attracted players 18 and over from all over central Alberta.
To register to play, the fee was $40 per player with a donation for the Innisfail and Area Food Bank.
Organizers laid down seven pickleball courts in each arena for a total of 14.
Each court was 20 by 44 feet in size, the standard size for the sport and a comparable to a doubles badminton court but far smaller than tennis, which measures 78 feet long and 27 feet wide for singles matches.
Ray Cimolini, organizer for the tourney, said his pickleball organization began advertising for the event back in May with a hope of attracting 60 participants within two weeks.
That number was easily reached, and registration was soon closed due to enthusiastic demand.
When tournament time arrived, organizers had players from across central Alberta, including Red Deer, Lacombe, Ponoka, Olds, Gleniffer Lake, Spruce View, Pine Lake and even Edmonton.
Out of the 60 players who signed up there were 20 who considered themselves advanced, 30 at the intermediate level and about 10 novice participants.
They were then put into four divisions, from A to D, based on seedings.
Division A had the most advanced players, B and C was for intermediate and D held novice players.
“The first day of the tournament we had a seeding round robin, so every player played six games,” said Cimolini, adding every player, like in golf, is given a scorecard to fill in for themselves. “We then sorted them into A, B, C or D divisions, depending on how well they finished in those six games.
“The value of that, which is different than any other tournament, is that it created groups of players that were more evenly matched,” he added. “That makes pickleball more fun when you're playing with a group of people that are closer to your ability level.”
When the tourney was over there were 12 winners, three from each division.
They each got medals, and of course a cookie.
But there was more to the tourney than court action.
The Innisfail Weekend Extravaganza included lessons, drills and clinics taught by certified pickleball instructors.
Led by coach Kevin Grahl, the Didsbury and District Pickleball Club provided five members to teach the skills and drills portion to the advanced players.
The Intermediate players were instructed by coach Larry Bisschop along with Jamie Phillips, Dave Quigley and Lynn Grahl.
Gabriel Chicoine taught the novice group.
And Red Deer osteopath Kerry Chasse was at the tourney to offer instruction on fitness and stretching to prepare, reduce, and prevent muscle injuries.
“And that's why it's an extravaganza,” said Cimolini. “To call it just a tournament is an understatement. It was bigger and better than just a pickleball tournament.”
