Somehow believing I was ready, I entered my first pickleball tournament. An indoor tournament (thankfully, as it was snowing outside) in Springfield, Missouri. Against all better judgement, I was talked into playing in the 4.0 ranking by my partner. I was not a 4.0 player as I soon found out.
The matches were over quickly as it was a double elimination tournament. It was two and done and long drive home through the snow and rain. Did I learn anything? Of course! I learned there was a lot to the sport I did not know about. I learned that there were a lot of good players out there. I learned that most all pickleball people are really friendly and fun to be around. I also learned that if I was going to play at a tournament level I had to work at it…….hard!
So I went back to playing golf and tennis.
A few months pass by and I get the itch to try again. Another tournament was coming up. I entered once again with more information and a touch more skill. It was a round robin style tournament with reseeding and bracket style matches in the afternoon. I played all out in the morning and was exhausted by the afternoon. I thought all tournaments would be alike. I was wrong. I failed to realize that it would be essentially nine hours of matches. More than once I cursed myself for not bringing along proper nutrition, medication or even fluids. Once again…..a learning experience. There were quite a few good players out there. The people were still really friendly and fun. I learned there was still a lot I needed to learn. And if I were to play in tournaments I needed to work and practice hard!
So I went back to playing golf and tennis.
Yet, much like life…..something unexpectedly cool happens. But it takes awhile.