Labor Day Pickleball Jamboree

Kings Point League, Sun City Center, Florida
















Louann Dubendorf and the Kings Point Pickleball League hosted the Second Annual Labor Day Pickleball Jamboree in Sun City Center, Florida on Saturday September 6th. It’s hurricane season in Florida, so participants watched closely for days as Hanna’s path threatened their event, but the weather cooperated and gave the players a beautiful pickleball day!

This annual event brings pickleball players of all levels together for a day of social mix and mingles play. Upon arrival at the event, all players received their name tags, a goodie bag with pen and scorecards to track their games, along with snacks and bottled water…AND a helpful hint from Professor Pick L. Ball to "keep your eye the on the ball".

Everyone gathered at the event schedule posted at the courts to see what time they played and who they would be challenging. The name tags were a great idea in helping to locate your opponents. Participants included players from Kings Point, from Englewood, Florida, from Tanglewood, in Sebring, Florida and MeadowPoint players from Tampa and Wesley Chapel, Florida.

The whistle blew at 8:00 AM sharp to kick off the first mixed doubles partner challenge. A total of 53 players registered for the event, and teams rotated on and off the court every fifteen minutes until early afternoon to
complete 57 scheduled games. Leaving the court, each team was responsible for posting their total game points, so highest point winners could be determined. High Single Game Scoring Ribbons for the men went to Tom Nolan and Walter Kuehn of Sun City. Judy Goldberg and Jill Condon from Sebring, Florida took the honors for the women and Bill Sciortino and Connie Kehl of Sun City were the high scoring team in the Mixed Doubles. The “Most Thought About” Ribbon and a beautiful “thinking of you” card went to our dear friend Ellen Zelins, who for medical reasons could not attend.

Between games, participants found lunch available either poolside or at the Club House, visited or lunched with new found pickleball players, or checked out the new merchandise soon to be offered on Louann Dubendorf’s new website. She has designed some great new pickleball t-shirts, and had her Pickleball Bug T-shirt available at the event. Her website will offer a large array of Pickleball articles, including mugs, key chains, magnets and much much more. Please visit her site, and check in with Professor Pick L. Ball for your pickleball tips at http://www.thepickleballbug.com/ . More information on the Kings Point League and their events is available at http://www.gotpickleball.com/

For a complete slide show of the fun and activities click on Labor Day Jamboree, Kings Point Pickleball Club, 2008


Submitted by Donna and Rich Donald, Joint Ambassadors, New Tampa, FL.