OLDS — A one-day pickleball tournament held May 13 in the Community Learning Campus (CLC) gym attracted 45 participants from as far away as Red Deer and Calgary.
The second annual tournament was organized by the Olds Pickleball Club in Olds in partnership with the CLC.
In addition to Olds, Red Deer and Calgary, competitors came from Sundre, Didsbury, Carstairs, Innisfail, Airdrie and Canmore.
The event was organized into three divisions with 15 participants in each.
The top four finishers in each division, based on points accumulated in 12 games, played a final game to determine the top finisher.
However, “this was a fun tournament and you didn't have to be ranked to play in it,” Mary Wilson, an organizer, said.
Olds resident Erin Blom won Division 1.
The top four players in that division were Blom, Maureen Orton of Airdrie, Marie Snippa of Sundre and Steve Fairhurst of Calgary.
Blom and Fairhurst are regular members of the Olds Pickleball Club.
Bradley Saffran of Airdrie won Division 2.
The top four in that division were Saffran, Robert Wieliczko of Innisfail, Susan Dang of Calgary and Bill Moulton of Sundre.
Dominique Farr of Airdrie won the elite division (Division 3).
The top four in that division were Farr, Theunis Wessels of Olds, Jarred Saffran of Airdrie, and Denis Boivin of Carstairs.
Boivin and Wessels are regular players in the Olds Pickleball Club.
Wilson says pickleball has a fairly lengthy history in Olds.
A loose group of pickleball players began playing the sport at least as far back as 2016 at École Deer Meadow School.
Later, they moved to the gym in the Frank Grisdale Hall in Olds College under the auspices of the CLC, at which time the game was offered to people as a recreational option.
In about 2019, they moved into the CLC gym.
Wilson said playing in the CLC gym is especially convenient because the facility is so big.
“For sure it's the nicest one in the county," Wilson said during an interview. “It's just because of the space, the high ceilings. There's just a lot of room. It's a really nice facility.
“If you set up every court, you could have 44 people playing at once.”
At about that time, the group became more organized. An email list of members was drawn up and utilized. People from other communities joined.
“We have over 100 (people) on our email list and we've been getting anywhere between 20 and 35 people out on regularly on the Sunday night,” Wilson wrote in an email.
This summer, the club is hoping to make use of the new pickleball courts that are being set up on the new ice rink pad in Centennial Park.
At the time of the interview, Wilson said meetings to figure out how that work were anticipated to be held with town representatives shortly.
“For the summer, I think if people can play outdoors, they would prefer to,” she said.
“We have a great group and pickleball is gaining a lot of interest. It's a very popular sport.”
