Ron Lane
For the members of the Noosa Pickleball Club, last weekend was certainly one to remember.
For the third year in a row, the club played host to 150 players from all over Australia who contested the Noosa Pickleball Doubles Classic, a tournament that is now becoming an annual event.
Talking with Ron Gatliff committee member and tournament director, it becomes quite apparent that the game of pickleball, while still somewhat new in the world of sports, is now going gangbusters.
‘’To start it off we have a good representation from the Sunshine Coast, with clubs from Wide Bay, Noosa, Moolooaba, Caloundra, Bribie Island. Then of course there are clubs from Brisbane, several from the Gold Coast, also, a club from Ballina in NSW and one from Hampton in Melbourne.”
Among those are members from the Gold and Sunshine Coast clubs who have just returned from the USA where they took part in the US open championships.
The program, which catered for mens, womens and mixed teams, is now played by members whose age ranges from 21 to 76.
Because of the big increase in player registration, what started as a one-day tournament, has evolved into demand for a two-day event. With the two-day tournament Saturday and Sunday, Saturday is now set aside as a day for the Intermediate grade: that is the players who are just starting out.
“We created this concept as we believe, and rightly so, that to throw the novices straight into the open division where they wouldn’t stand a chance, would only be discouraging and they wouldn’t come back. We have found this concept to be very successful and accepted by all members.”
For Noosa the two-day event was to be held at the Noosa Leisure Centre but because of the torrential rain, condensation occurred on the floor of the courts, making it slippery, thus rendering it dangerous to players.
To avoid cancellation, a quick phone call to the Noosa Tennis Club was made, and with the problems fully explained, they agreed to help.
One of the problems transferring the tournament to the tennis club, was that the difference between the size of a pickleball court and a tennis court, made the relaying of the lines on the courts a major project.
However, with a large number of volunteers showing incredible team spirit, after several hours of dedicated work, the successful change-over was achieved.
The hand of friendship extended by the Noosa Tennis Club to the people of the pickleball club, was no doubt well above the norm. Well done to all involved.
Following the Noosa tournament, some members will travel to Honolulu where they will contest their national titles and as a follow up, some will then travel to France to again take part in a country’s national titles.
Strange as this may seem in a relatively new sport, let’s remember that in the USA there are now some five million registered players. With so many starting to travel interstate and overseas it shows that the sport is definitely on the increase.
Add to this some of our local schools are now getting involved playing heavy sessions every week at the Leisure Centre.
I think we would have to say that one of the most pleasing outcomes would have to be that of the lady named Debbie, aged 72, who hailed from San Francisco, entered the tournament and in her division won the silver medal.
In the months ahead the most important aspect would have to be a strong continued promotion of the game of pickleball within the community and, equal to this, would be obtaining a block of land on which to establish what Ron describes as the home base for the Noosa Pickleball club.
”We have been pursuing this goal for 18 months and it is no easy job. A couple of times we had a good lead but they fell through. We won’t give up we will keep trying.”
In the meantime, the club holds seven game sessions each week at the Noosa Leisure Centre, supported by five sessions at the Noosa Tennis Centre.
With so many players now visiting from not only interstate but also overseas, the fact that this sport is now established in Noosa is something for both our shire council and tourism industry to take note. When planning a holiday and choosing where to go, the fact that a town has your particular sport available would help in some cases to sway your final decision. Some look for good golf clubs, tennis clubs or a good surfing beach.
This may be a small aspect when choosing a holiday destination, but it does count. When tourist brochures advertising sports available in our community are being printed, we should now include the game of pickleball because pickleball is here to stay.
Carnival results for our local players were a total of 12 medals: one gold, six silver and five bronze. With the exception of two bronze, all the medals were won in the Intermediate section, the bronze being one each in the men’s and women’s open division. A more comprehensive breakdown in the Intermediate Division for men and women’s doubles age groups, is as followers: men’s one gold, three silver, one bronze, and the women’s, three silver and one bronze
All in all, it was definitely a great weekend for the sport of pickleball so, a big well done to all involved. And in particular a big thank you to the Noosa Tennis Club for their support.
Rugby league
For a lot of sporting events, last weekend saw many cancellations, including the Pirates’ away game. However, for Pirates this Saturday 21 May, with weather holding good, will be full on for the club and its supporters, with a total of five games on the program, starting at noon in the women’s, Pirates vs Kawana; 1.30pm u/18s Pirates vs Kawana; 3pm Division 2B, Pirates vs Pomona/Cooran; 4.30pm Division 2A, Pirates vs Kawana; and the main game Division 1, Pirates vs Kawana.
Then at 7.30pm there will be a promotional fun game of senior men listed as the International Latino Origan Game, fun for all to finish off an afternoon of good rugby league.
For those who saw last Saturday’s game, it was a game that will go down in club history. Once again to the team and coaching panel, you made us proud – rugby league at its best and, who knows – it could be on again this Saturday.
