Gold, Silver, and Bronze: Joe Kurtz Memorial Pickleball Tournament

The family participated in the Joe Kurtz Memorial Pickleball Tournament locally this past weekend at Highland Park in Eureka. We didn't know Joe Kurtz personally, but many of our friends in the Humboldt Bay Pickleball Club did (see obituary here) and played in his honor. There were hundreds of people playing, in divisions from 3.0-3.5, 3.5-4.0, 4.0 and above, and also divided by age ("all ages" and "50 and over"). Pickleball supposedly originated in the summer of 1965 in Bainbridge Island, Washington, and was named after a family dog who liked to chase the ball but has really grown in popularity in the past 10-15 years.

Despite having some p-ball practice on the upper deck of our cruise ship, we hadn't been playing a ton in the last month, but did get some rec practice sessions in last week.

Iver and Kelvin ("The Lobsters") entered in a men's 3.5-4.0 division (even getting t-shirts to match!) and Iver and I planned to play on Sunday in Mixed doubles 3.5-4.0.

Iver and Kelvin went 7-1, undefeated in round-robin play, but unfortunately lost in the final match  against the #3 seed (Jonathan and Scott), who'd they previously beaten. It was a great showing, however! 

A surprise to me was getting a call around 7:30 a,m. Saturday morning asking if I'd be up for joining another woman, Licia, in women's doubles the same morning at 9 a.m. in the women's doubles 4.0 - 4.5 division, because her original 4.0-level partner wasn't able to play due to acutely worsening pain in her hip. Licia and I are both more like 3.5-level players (so she had been asked to play up!), and hadn't practiced together (we've occasionally played in rec on the same side of the net), but I said, "Why not?" (it would have been a bummer for her to withdraw last-minute). Niall, who was going to spectate with me later to watch the men's bracket play), was thankfully flexible in getting dressed and fed quickly, and came along early to be a sideline cheerleader for both our women's team and Kelvin/Iver, whose games were playing at the same time on different courts.

Licia and I decided to match in red! 

We went 2-2 in games to fifteen (but lost one nail-biter 14-15 to the eventual winners, which we should have won) in the round robin play and lost in the semis of bracket play, but somehow redeemed ourselves for third place overall, which was a pleasant surprise as I wasn't even registered for the tournament!  Licia is going to join our family in a MLP (Major League Pickleball)-style tournament in Brookings next month where there are teams of women's, men's, and mixed pairs #1 and #2 (and then, a singles dreambreaker if the series it tied) so we're excited! 

On Sunday, Iver and I got to the courts early (after a spontaneous  4:50 a.m. wake-up time!) to warm up for mixed doubles.  I thought we were going to wear matching green Foggy Bottom Milk Run race shirts, but Iver directed a last-minute outfit change where he wanted to wear pink and black (he in pink on top/black on bottom and me the reverse because that "looks cool"), only after he was frustrated I didn't have a yellow pair of shorts to match his yellow Neymar jersey.  It is generally too cold in Humboldt for me to wear an athletic skirt without leggings, though! 

Kelvin and Niall came out closer to bracket play time to watch. Iver and I (team name "Vulocity") went 4-1 (I think) in round robin play, losing one match to Sara and Jake ("Mischief Managed") and were seeded second going into bracket play, the seedings decided on the basis of your record but also the point differential against your opponents. 

We won some tight matches against opponents like K.C. and Jamie, including a couple of comebacks, and then in the final faced Sara/Jake again and came from something like 6-9 down to win 11-9 for the first place medal (gold!) out of ten teams. I played quite well overall (didn't let my son down, phew!)! I made some but not excessive unforced errors and got slightly frustrated but not derailed by the wind at Highland Park, but I've gotten a lot stronger at the net and more consistent since the last tournaments we played, which has really helped our match outcomes!

Excited after the final point!

The medalists

Iver and I stayed and watched most of the upper (mixed 4.0-4.5) division players (many of whom we know) compete, which was inspiring as the points are intense! The winner of the mixed included a 5.0-level women's player who plays like a professional does!  Iver's been asking me frequently to check the DUPR app for his updated rating with these tournament results now in, as he expected it to go up.  I just looked and his rating improved from 3.72 to 3.955 and mine went from 3.72 (at the time that we won our last tournament in March) to 4.002!  He's saying we should "play up" in the next division in the next tournament we enter, which seems like a stretch for me, but we'll see. We had a ton of fun yesterday (and I didn't blow it for him!) so I'm sure there will be a "next one" to negotiate!