The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)

Pickleball tournament draws over 200 competitor­s

- By Andrew Cass acass@news-herald.com @AndrewCass­NH on Twitter

Don Demming watched a game of pickleball going on below him as he walked the track in a gym in Solon.

He didn’t know what he was watching, but it looked fun.

Two days later he gave it a try and it turns out it was.

Pickleball, created in the 1965, is a fusion of racquetbal­l, Ping-Pong and tennis.

A year after discoverin­g the sport, Demming was competing in his first USA Pickleball Associatio­n-sanctioned tournament, The Benjamin F. Edwards & Co. Pickleball Tournament held June 11 and 12 at Civic Center Park in Mentor.

This was the fourth edition of the tournament, previously known as the Madness in Mentor Tournament.

Pickleball is the fastest growing sport in the world, tournament director Brian Murphy said.

Currently there are two million players in the world. In three years, that number is expected to quadruple, Murphy said.

Seventy percent of pickleball players are over 60 years old, but that number is dropping daily as younger people discover the sport, Murphy added.

Civic Center Park features 12 pickleball courts and Murphy called it one of the best pickleball facilities in the country.

The annual tournament allows the city to showcase the facility and bring in players from around the around the country, including some of the top players in the country.

“It gets bigger every year,” Murphy said.

This year’s tournament­s featured 120 teams from nine states, over 200 competitor­s altogether.

Additional­ly the tournament gives the city of Mentor a boost, with participan­ts from out of town staying at the city’s hotels, visiting its shops and eating at its restaurant­s, Murphy said.

The city runs two pickleball classes a week, that fill up with 25 people per class. League matches are run twice a week and there is open court three nights a week. Courts are open to the public at all times, Murphy said.

Single-day tournament­s are also held monthly.

More informatio­n can be found at Mentorpick­leball.org.

Demming splits his time playing the sport in both Solon and in Mentor, where he is part of a league.

He said he “went down in flames” during The Benjamin F. Edwards & Co. Pickleball Tournament, but he remains optimistic.

 ?? ANDREW CASS - NEWS-HERALD ?? Beth Berman and Mike Murphy of Mentor compete June 12 in The Benjamin F. Edwards & Co. Pickleball Tournament held at Civic Center Park in Mentor.
ANDREW CASS - NEWS-HERALD Beth Berman and Mike Murphy of Mentor compete June 12 in The Benjamin F. Edwards & Co. Pickleball Tournament held at Civic Center Park in Mentor.

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