The Millennium Family Fitness Tournament in Joplin, MO, held on October 16, 17 and 18 was my first tournament director experience.
There were sixteen singles players, sixty doubles teams and four hundred and twelve matches over three days! What a great turn out! Everyone had fun (I hope) and got to play LOTS of pickleball! Congratulations to all the players and winners! You are truly a special community! I appreciate everyone coming to the tournament and making it run so smoothly! There are so many people I have to thank. Without you none of this would have happened or gone as well as it did. Thank you Millennium Family Fitness and their staff for hosting everyone. It is a beautiful facility and they did a great job helping us set up, clean up and tear down. Thank you Missina Sharp for managing one side of the facility so I didn’t have to run back and forth. Plus all the other things….helping tape courts, measure nets, fill out score sheets and bring supplies from home. Thank you to ALL the volunteers, Caitlyn Randolph, Dean Rusk, Newt Sharp, Rudy Shultz, Jami Strickland and Lyle Welch….. that kept the courts moving and collected scores. Thank you also to the awesome sponsors, AdvoCare, Gearbox Pickleball, Jigsaw Health, Onix Pickleball, Pickleball Central and Vulcan Pickleball that were kind enough to send me supplies and raffle items! And a special shout out to Cody Kent who answered numerous questions about running a tournament. His advice was invaluable! I appreciate everyone and everything so much and will see everyone in the near future! Thank you!!!