PHOTO COURTESY VALERIE COX MED HAT PICKLEBALL CLUB
There were over a hundred pickleball matches this weekend at the Big Marble Go Centre and the South Country Co-op Pickleball Courts as part of the locally held Pickleball Canada's Western Regional Championship. The locally held tournament started Thursday morning and wrapped up on Sunday.
jtubb@medicinehatnews.com@ReporterTubb
After four days of Western Canada’s top pickleball talent showcasing their skills, there’s nothing left to do besides reflect on a weekend of winners.
The Medicine Hat Pickleball Club and community hosted the 2023 Pickleball Canada Western Regional Championship this weekend at the Big Marble Go Centre and the South Country Co-op Pickleball Courts. More than 520 athletes from across B.C., Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba competed for the title of the Western Region’s best pickleball athletes.
When looking back on the four-day event, tournament director Brenda Lea MacPhail says she doesn’t know how many times she can thank all the volunteers who made it possible.
“Between the 24 committee chairs and the almost 200 volunteers digging in for the last six months, just making sure they were 100 per cent prepared for things to happen and 110 per cent prepared for those they weren’t expecting,” MacPhail said. “They handled everything with such grace and I couldn’t be prouder of the team that we pulled together.”
The pickleball athletes, spectators and volunteers battled blazing heat over the weekend while witnessing and participating in the battle of best of the West. MacPhail couldn’t believe how the athletes battled the heat and played game after game but was impressed with the play throughout the weekend.
“Even those who were starting to feel a little bit of fatigue from the sun, they just kept pushing through it and said, ‘no, I came all the way here, this is a championship event and I’m going to finish my matches.’ That was outstanding to see from a group of athletes.”
Medicine Hat was well represented throughout the tournament, with 44 of the 47 participating local athletes taking home medals across the men’s, women’s singles, doubles and mixed doubles competitions. MacPhail is proud of the local winners and any help they received from club members throughout the weekend.
“We really have a strong club here in Medicine Hat, we’re about 450 members at this point in time and to see everyone pulled together, whether they were a player or whether they were a volunteer, was really exciting,” MacPhail said. “Because these courts are just over a year old and to have hosted our second major championship on those courts in that amount of time has taken a lot of dedication on the part of a lot of club members.
“To see it all come together and the kudos we’re getting from players who travelled to come here, not only about the courts themselves, which truly are a gift, but also the organization that took place to pull the tournament off, has been overwhelming.”
The Medicine Hat Pickleball Club tested its hosting skills last year as hosts of the Alberta Championships last July. With the Pickleball Canada Western Regional Championships behind them, MacPhail says members will be taking a year off from hosting larger scale tournaments but are still looking to host local or provincial tournaments.
Until then, she wants the membership group to worry more about their play on the courts than scheduling the next tournament.
“We just need to take a little time and let everybody who has been so involved in organizing the tournaments also get back out and just enjoy their lives and start to play the game of pickleball again,” MacPhail said.
Here are the Medicine Hat and area winners, their divisions and age groups from the final two days of action. The first two days results can be found in Saturday’s News.
Jordan Pomrenke and Davis Pomrenke won gold in the men’s doubles, aged 19-49, 3.0 and under skill level.
James Lieske and Greg Godard took bronze in the men’s doubles ahed 50-59, 3.0 and under skill level.
Gaye Stewart and Scott Anton took bronze in the men’s doubles, aged 60-69 3.0 and under skill level.
Scott Hughson and Scotty Franklin took silver in the men’s doubles ahed 19-49, 3.5 skill level.
Simon Neigum and Darcy Haaf won bronze in the men’s doubles aged 60-64, 3.5 skill level.
Keith Quesnelle and Steve Tidder (Osoyoos, BC) took bronze in the mens doubles aged 65-69, 3.5 skill level.
Donald Schaufele and Dave Goertzen (Winkler, MB) took silver in the men’s doubles aged 70 and above, 3.5 skill level.
Niall Weich and Dustin Gelowitz (Regina, SK) won gold in the men’s doubles, aged 19-49 4.0 skill level.
Calvin Heller and Blaine Lutz won gold in the men’s doubles ahed 50-59, 4.0 skill level.
Deb Widdis and Craig Weich won gold in the mixed doubles aged 55-59, 4.0 skill level.
Carolynn Snyder and Nicolaas Botha (Parkland County) won bronze in the mixed doubles aged 65 and above, 4.0 skill level.
Jacie Brusky took bronze in the women’s singles aged 18-34, 3.5 and under skill level.
