2014 Club Championships

Sun Lakes Pickleball Club at IronOaks

inaugural

Mixed Doubles Championships

Saturday, March 15, 2014

We have 7 Division 1 teams and 11 Division 2 teams.

We will play on 4 courts.

Play will be a round robin format: 2 Flights in Div 1, 3 Flights in Div 2. 4 teams in each Division will make the Playoffs.

Matches will be one game to 15pts (win by 2, switch sides at 8)

Some light snacks will be available (please feel free to bring something to share,,,,bare tables look bad)

Div 2 will start at 9:00 (please be there by 8:45). Div 1 will start at 10:00 (pls arrive by 9:45... unless you want to see the opening ceremonies)

Look forward to a fun event with spirited competition - maybe a cartwheel or 2 if we're lucky.

If you have any questions call Greg Mather at 480-220-7021.

Inaugural Mixed Doubles and Singles Tournament Results

by David Zapatka

SLPCIO, the only IronOaks pickleball club holding club championships in Men’s Doubles, Women’s Doubles, Mixed Doubles and Singles for IronOaks members, held its inaugural Mixed Doubles and Singles Championships Saturday, March 15. Our membership showed up in force to contend these highly coveted club championship titles.

In Division 2 Mixed Doubles Kimberly and Tom Sanders, our newest members of Sun Lakes Pickleball Club at IronOaks, went undefeated in route to their gold medal win over silver medalists Monica Dickens and Bill Aichele. On the edge of their seats, the finals match was watched by a large crowd who roared their approval of the athletic prowess of the Sanders pair, the nonstop witty and clever comments of Monica Dickens and the fight-to-the-end grit of Bill Aichele.

The Division 2 Mixed Doubles bronze medal match featured the effervescent Patricia Koepp and Art Baessler who dueled their way to an inspired 15-13 win over the tough-as-nails pair of Susan and Patrick O’Connell. This crowd-pleasing match could have gone either way but when it came down to the nitty-gritty, it was PK and Art who delivered.

The Division 1 Mixed Doubles final went the distance as long-term IronOaks pickleball promoters Patty “The Cartwheel” True and David “Z-Man” Zapatka outlasted Karen “The Gunslinger” Eastman and David “Novi” Novikoff in a very entertaining and close final.

The Division 1 Mixed Doubles bronze medal match showcased Bev Krueger (IronOaks’ Pickleball Diva) and the rock-crushing, power-hitting Tom Kasper versus the cool, consistent play of the very proud Canadian pair, Jeannine and Kelly McKinna. This match repeatedly brought the crowd to their feet in applause as the power of the Krueger/Kasper team continued to pound away at the Great Wall of Canada. In the end, Bev’s guile and Tom’s power won out and the wall crumbled in an extremely close match.

Singles, singles, who wants to play pickleball singles? Seven hearty men showed up to play the toughest of all racquet sports singles tournaments, pickleball.

In a round robin format, Division 2 Singles saw poetry in motion as the spectators watched in awe as Art Baessler, gold medalist, danced his way to impressive wins over Greg (Festus) Mather and Kelly McKinna. Down but not out, Festus faced the cool man from the north, Kelly McKinna, in a silver medal showdown. This time experience prevailed over cool and collected as Festus took bronze medalist Kelly down.

Division 1 Singles was a pickleball war zone and not for the faint of heart. IronOaks tennis champions Tom Sanders and Tom Snider entered the singles battle along with David “Novi” Novikoff and David “Z-Man” Zapatka. Despite Tom Sanders never having played pickleball singles before, he put Z-Man to the test with his transferrable tennis skills. Continuously serving and volleying and attacking the net Tom Sanders pinned Z-Man to the baseline hitting irretrievable angled winners. It was a puzzle, a challenge, for Z-Man to come up with a strategy against this power but putting his pickleball experience and mental acuity to work, he found combination after combination to run off the final nine points of the match to win 15-7.

On the other side of the draw, Tom Snider, known as the “Man of Steel” on the tennis courts battled gallantly in a losing effort to Novi.

The bronze medal match between the two Toms was exciting and filled with counter drive after counter drive. After a very long and wearing match, Tom Sander’s power overcame Tom Snider’s steel will to win the bronze.

The gold medal match saw the Davids duke it out to the bitter end. Tournament-tough Z-Man struggled with Novi’s precise ball placement but managed to pull out the victory with some shot making of his own. Gold medal to Z-Man and silver medal to Novi.

Many thanks to all the volunteers who helped stripe tennis court #8, set up the temporary nets, bring the beautiful spread of food everyone feasted on and helped with the smooth running of the tournament. Our biggest thanks goes to Greg Mather for organizing the tournament, keeping us on time and creating a fun, competitive event we all thoroughly enjoyed!

Photo Gallery

Inaugural Men’s and Women’s Doubles Tournament Results

by David Zapatka

On February 22, 2014, SLPCIO club membership showed up in force to participate in our club’s inaugural Men’s and Women’s Doubles Club Championships. The weather was perfect and the competition was hot!

Playing on four courts there was exciting action all morning long.

Going undefeated and winning the Division II Women’s Doubles title was the physically fit and talented Linda Snider playing with her decorated pickleball-champion partner Bev Schalin. Losing only one game on the way to winning all their matches, Karen Macksam and Janet Myrick played their aggressive style of pickleball always taking the net in attack mode making them a force to be reckoned with as they won the Division I Women’s Doubles title.

The effervescent Rocky Myers and his steady and accurate partner Bill Aichele tore through the Division II Men’s Doubles with nary a loss as they angled and outplayed their opponent’s all morning long. Greg Mather, aka Festus, with his buddy, Z Man, also managed to go undefeated, losing no games in route to the top spot in the Division I Men’s Doubles.

Final Standings

Men’s Division 1 - Women’s Division 1

Gold – Greg Mather/David Zapatka Gold – Karen Macksam/Janet Myrick

Silver – David Novikoff/Barry Schultz Silver – Chris Berney/Dianne Zimmerman

Bronze – Tom Kasper/Bob Zimmerman Bronze – Bev Krueger/Michelle Mather

Men’s Division II - Women’s Division II

Gold – Bill Aichele/Rocky Myers Gold – Bev Schalin/Linda Snider

Silver – Art Baessler/Earl Schalin Silver – Terri Finley/Susan O’Connell

Bronze – Bill Wilkinson/Todd Williams Bronze – Monica Dickens/Patricia Koepp

Celebrate life! Play pickleball!

Photo Gallery