Pickleball has been taking off in the Parkland, and it's not too hard to see why. Blending elements of tennis, racquetball, ping pong, and squash, the sport contains a good amount of the excitement one would typically expect to have from these sports. With its undeniable cardiovascular benefits, combined with a slightly lower impact on the joints, the growing sport with the interesting name provides a workout that is intense enough for active youth but still works for seniors. More and more people have been giving the sport a try, and for reasons in combination from perhaps both the explicable to inexplicable, the skill level from novice to competition-ready appears to come very quickly indeed.
The above having been kept in mind, then, so too would it be only a matter of time before enough players with the savvy in the region would culminate in a tournament proper. That time has come quickly, due in no small part to the efforts of one David Weiman.
This weekend, in a matter of speaking, could be considered a justifiably proud moment for David, who might appropriately be considered the Godfather of Pickleball. Weiman, to be sure, has done much to promote the sport in the Parkland Region through workshops held in the past year or so, ensuring that anyone wishing to play has access both to courts and expert tutelage. Further to his credit, Weiman has also spent countless hours polishing his own considerable game, in addition to devoting considerable time to keeping his own teaching, coaching and training methods up-to-date and sharp through the applicable official regulatory bodies for the sport. Now, that day has finally come, where the very first official pickleball tournament has taken place in the region.
The turnout was impressive 鈥� the court was full with numerous competitors waiting their turn to whack their ball on the court. The sport has certainly grown since last year 鈥� and the skill, intensity, and sportsmanship a wonderful evolution in a remarkably short period of time to what could in no way be considered anything other than a unbelievably successful event by any conceivable metric.
鈥淭his is the city of Yorkton's first pickleball tournament that we're hosting. We have a wide range of registrations that came in, so we have 47 registrants for this tournament,鈥� said Julia Schofer, Recreation Services Manager for the Gloria Hayden Centre.
鈥淭welve teams for the men's and the mixed, and then ten teams for the ladies' respectively. With that we had tons of people that came from all over the province. Yorkton, Otthon, Melville, Langenburg, Foam Lake, Regina, Fort Qu'Appelle...so Yorkton is kind of a nice 'in the middle' location for athletes to get together without the barrier of travel, which is really nice.鈥�
Anyone wishing to get involved can call the Gloria Hayden Centre at (306) 786-1776.聽
