{"id":797948,"date":"2019-07-24T19:29:44","date_gmt":"2019-07-25T01:29:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.summitdaily.com\/?p=369143"},"modified":"2019-07-24T19:29:44","modified_gmt":"2019-07-25T01:29:44","slug":"pickle-in-the-peaks-summit-county-locals-thrilled-with-first-ever-pickleball-tournament-sports-growth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/local-news\/pickle-in-the-peaks-summit-county-locals-thrilled-with-first-ever-pickleball-tournament-sports-growth\/","title":{"rendered":"Pickle in the Peaks: Summit County locals thrilled with first-ever pickleball tournament, sport\u2019s growth"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"swift-gallery p402_hide\" readability=\"6.8619119878604\">\n<ul id=\"imageGallery-369143-217\" class=\"gallery list-unstyled\">\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/07\/Pickleball-SDN-072519-5-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/07\/Pickleball-SDN-072519-5.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"Linda Bush \/ Special to The Daily | Medal winners from this past weekend's tournament included, in the 3.0 doubles women's division, from left to right, Pam Horstman, Anita Wells, Wendy Tilden, Joni Veazey, Kay Ogano and Karen Miller.\" class=\"h-100\" readability=\"2.5\">\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"16\">\n<p><strong>Medal winners from this past weekend&#8217;s tournament included, in the 3.0 doubles women&#8217;s division, from left to right, Pam Horstman, Anita Wells, Wendy Tilden, Joni Veazey, Kay Ogano and Karen Miller.<\/strong><br \/>Linda Bush \/ Special to The Daily<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/07\/Pickleball-SDN-072519-5.jpg\" alt=\"Medal winners from this past weekend's tournament included, in the 3.0 doubles women's division, from left to right, Pam Horstman, Anita Wells, Wendy Tilden, Joni Veazey, Kay Ogano and Karen Miller.\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/07\/Pickleball-SDN-072519-1-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/07\/Pickleball-SDN-072519-1.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"Linda Bush \/ Special to The Daily | Paul Jones, Bill Clark, Trudy Chaille and Wendy Markley compete in this past weekend's first-ever Pickle in the Peaks pickleball tournament at Rainbow Park in Silverthorne.\" class=\"h-100\" readability=\"0\">\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"11\">\n<p><strong>Paul Jones, Bill Clark, Trudy Chaille and Wendy Markley compete in this past weekend&#8217;s first-ever Pickle in the Peaks pickleball tournament at Rainbow Park in Silverthorne.<\/strong><br \/>Linda Bush \/ Special to The Daily<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/07\/Pickleball-SDN-072519-1.jpg\" alt=\"Paul Jones, Bill Clark, Trudy Chaille and Wendy Markley compete in this past weekend's first-ever Pickle in the Peaks pickleball tournament at Rainbow Park in Silverthorne.\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/07\/Pickleball-SDN-072519-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/07\/Pickleball-SDN-072519.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"Linda Bush \/ Special to The Daily | Pickleball players compete this past weekend in the first-ever Pickle in the Peaks pickleball tournament at Rainbow Park in Silverthorne, Buffalo Mountain in view in the distance.\" class=\"h-100\" readability=\"-0.5\">\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"10\">\n<p><strong>Pickleball players compete this past weekend in the first-ever Pickle in the Peaks pickleball tournament at Rainbow Park in Silverthorne, Buffalo Mountain in view in the distance.<\/strong><br \/>Linda Bush \/ Special to The Daily<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/07\/Pickleball-SDN-072519.jpg\" alt=\"Pickleball players compete this past weekend in the first-ever Pickle in the Peaks pickleball tournament at Rainbow Park in Silverthorne, Buffalo Mountain in view in the distance.\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/07\/Pickleball-SDN-072519-2-1-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/07\/Pickleball-SDN-072519-2-1.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"Linda Bush \/ Special to The Daily | Bob Worthington and Annette Visser play during this past weekend's first-ever Pickle in the Peaks pickleball tournament at Rainbow Park in Silverthorne.\" class=\"h-100\" readability=\"-1.5\">\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"8\">\n<p><strong>Bob Worthington and Annette Visser play during this past weekend&#8217;s first-ever Pickle in the Peaks pickleball tournament at Rainbow Park in Silverthorne.<\/strong><br \/>Linda Bush \/ Special to The Daily<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/07\/Pickleball-SDN-072519-2-1.jpg\" alt=\"Bob Worthington and Annette Visser play during this past weekend's first-ever Pickle in the Peaks pickleball tournament at Rainbow Park in Silverthorne.\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/07\/Pickleball-SDN-072519-3-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/07\/Pickleball-SDN-072519-3.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"Linda Bush \/ Special to The Daily | Medal winners from this past weekend's tournament included, from left to right, 3.5 men\u2019s doubles medal winners John Bowerman, Tom Stanar, Eric Dargevics, Stan Johnson, Mike Miller and Rick Bell.\" class=\"h-100\" readability=\"2\">\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"15\">\n<p><strong>Medal winners from this past weekend&#8217;s tournament included, from left to right, 3.5 men\u2019s doubles medal winners John Bowerman, Tom Stanar, Eric Dargevics, Stan Johnson, Mike Miller and Rick Bell.<\/strong><br \/>Linda Bush \/ Special to The Daily<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/07\/Pickleball-SDN-072519-3.jpg\" alt=\"Medal winners from this past weekend's tournament included, from left to right, 3.5 men\u2019s doubles medal winners John Bowerman, Tom Stanar, Eric Dargevics, Stan Johnson, Mike Miller and Rick Bell.\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/07\/Pickleball-SDN-072519-4-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/07\/Pickleball-SDN-072519-4.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"Linda Bush \/ Special to The Daily | Junior Serenil (far left) and David Serenil (far right) return a volley during this past weekend's first-ever Pickle in the Peaks pickleball tournament at Rainbow Park in Silverthorne.\" class=\"h-100\" readability=\"-1\">\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"9\">\n<p><strong>Junior Serenil (far left) and David Serenil (far right) return a volley during this past weekend&#8217;s first-ever Pickle in the Peaks pickleball tournament at Rainbow Park in Silverthorne.<\/strong><br \/>Linda Bush \/ Special to The Daily<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/07\/Pickleball-SDN-072519-4.jpg\" alt=\"Junior Serenil (far left) and David Serenil (far right) return a volley during this past weekend's first-ever Pickle in the Peaks pickleball tournament at Rainbow Park in Silverthorne.\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"caption-toggle\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.summitdaily.com\/news\/pickle-in-the-peaks-summit-county-locals-thrilled-with-first-ever-pickleball-tournament-sports-growth\/?#\" class=\"show-captions\">Show Captions<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.summitdaily.com\/news\/pickle-in-the-peaks-summit-county-locals-thrilled-with-first-ever-pickleball-tournament-sports-growth\/?#\" class=\"hide-captions\">Hide Captions<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>SILVERTHORNE \u2014 While Julie Worthington and a collection of Summit County locals played pickleball at Silverthorne Recreation Center one morning this past winter, they noticed a young man in the bleachers patiently waiting to play basketball. After he watched the tennis-like paddle game for more than an hour, Worthington and company asked him if he\u2019d like to join in.<\/p>\n<p>He hasn\u2019t stopped playing since.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe were like, \u2018Get out here, boy,\u2019\u201d Worthington said. \u201cAnd he played, and he\u2019s so good.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Junior Serenil, 18, is a recent transplant to the area known for its active lifestyle. Serenil is a fan of soccer, and it\u2019s pickleball\u2019s similar finesse that made him fall in love with the game. He won a gold medal in his division at this past weekend\u2019s first Pickle in the Peaks pickleball tournament at Rainbow Park in Silverthorne.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI found a group there that made me feel comfortable,\u201d the native Texan said. \u201cI can converse and play a sport with them that I enjoy because pickleball has made my time here in Colorado pretty fun. I\u2019m glad I moved here now because I found pickleball. It\u2019s a blast to play.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Pickleball is a paddle sport that combines elements of badminton, tennis and table tennis as two or four players use solid paddles to hit a perforated polymer ball, similar to a Wiffle Ball, over a net. Think of it kind of as life-sized ping pong or a smaller, slower version of tennis played on a much smaller court. The sport, which was created in 1965 and is one of the fastest-growing sports in the nation, is known to be popular among aging athletes.<\/p>\n<p>Here in Summit County, the vast majority of pickleball players are older, too, though this past weekend\u2019s Pickle in the Peaks tournament attracted athletes of all ages and experience levels to Silverthorne for a tournament featuring 175 matches, more than 100 athletes and 60 teams.<\/p>\n<p>Serenil and his father, \u201cSenior,\u201d won the men\u2019s doubles 4.0 division at a tournament that featured round-robin play classified by skill level before the top four teams advanced to the medal rounds, where medalists were decided in a best-two-out-of-three playoff format.<\/p>\n<p>Though the tournament attracted interest from athletes from outside the county, including the Front Range and Western Slope, a large portion of the tournament\u2019s players were members of the Summit County Pickleball Association. The nonprofit association formed last year after a smaller group of locals played recreationally dating back several years. In just one year, Worthington, one of the association\u2019s founders, said the association has grown to include more than 300 members. Worthington said about 100 of them are full-time residents of the county while the others have joined on vacation or while spending time at a part-time home.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPeople all over the nation come for winter, summer \u2014 whatever,\u201d Worthington said. \u201cAnd they are playing pickleball like crazy in Arizona, Florida, or wherever they live.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>This past weekend, the association worked with the town of Silverthorne\u2019s recreation department to line 10 pickleball courts on the tennis courts in Rainbow Park. The tournament was a large step up for Worthington and the association after locals previously organized smaller, unofficial tournaments with around 30 people. It was so large that Worthington wasn\u2019t able to play herself, resorting to helping with tournament operations. She said she was elated at the turnout.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis tournament completely exceeded our expectations as far as numbers and participation,\u201d she said. \u201cWe reached that probably two weeks before the tournament was actually being held. We had people wanting to get in we had to turn down. We can definitely expand it, but it\u2019s a lot of work.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>One of this year\u2019s medalist was Joan Veazey, 75, a pickleballer 57 years Junior Steril\u2019s senior. Veazey said she and her husband, Jerry, fell in love with the sport about five years ago. Since then, the Veazeys try to play five days a week. For Joan Veazey, it all led up to this past weekend\u2019s tournament, where she and her playing partner, fellow Summit County local Wendy Tilden, won the women\u2019s doubles 3.0 division.<\/p>\n<p>After quitting tennis a quarter century ago due to its impact on her body, Veazey is happy she has found pickleball as it provides a similar camaraderie and community.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBeing good at pickleball doesn\u2019t necessarily have to do with your ability,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s about going out and learning the game and you wanting to get better, you wanting to achieve better skills. And I think it helps \u2014 not only physically, but just the mental aspect of it too \u2014 it keeps you young, keeps you going, keeps you motivated, and I think that\u2019s why a lot of us continue to play.\u201d<\/p>\n<p> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.summitdaily.com\/news\/pickle-in-the-peaks-summit-county-locals-thrilled-with-first-ever-pickleball-tournament-sports-growth\/?\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">via:: Summit Daily<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Medal winners from this past weekend&#8217;s tournament included, in the 3.0 doubles women&#8217;s division, from left to right, Pam Horstman, Anita Wells, Wendy Tilden, Joni Veazey, Kay Ogano and Karen Miller.Linda Bush \/ Special to The Daily Paul Jones, Bill Clark, Trudy Chaille and Wendy Markley compete in this past weekend&#8217;s first-ever Pickle in the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[99],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-797948","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-local-news"},"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-18 09:06:34","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSMT The Mountain","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/797948","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=797948"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/797948\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=797948"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=797948"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=797948"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}