(File photo/paNOW Staff)

By Logan Lehmann

Pickleball

Prince Albert Pickleball set to host second annual Winter Thaw Classic

Apr 11, 2024 | 6:00 AM

The Prince Albert Pickleball Association is gearing up to host their second annual Winter Thaw Classic tournament this weekend.

Games will be held at the Alfred Jenkins Fieldhouse beginning on Friday afternoon and wrapping up a day later on Saturday where 70 people are signed up to play.

P.A. Pickleball President Devin Gorder said that the tournament will see players from across the province as the excitement levels continue to ramp up.

“Everyone is super excited, not only the local members but the out of town members,” he said. “We have players coming in from Saskatoon, Regina, and surrounding areas and we’re well represented from our P.A. group. Everybody’s been playing and practicing, getting ready – even the players coming from out of town. I’ve been in contact with several of them from throughout the province and they’re all in the same position, everybody’s looking forward to having some competition and having a great time.”

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Prince Albert Pickleball hosted their first tournament a little over a year ago which attracted 50 players in a one-day competition. Now just a year later, the tournament has 20 more competitors and is played over two days with the only difference being that in 2023, it was a singles tournament and now this year it’s a doubles tournament.

“It’s fantastic [to see the growth] not only for our club on a local level but we’re seeing more and more players that aren’t necessarily registered with our club, but just players in general,” Gorder said. “We could have probably booked three days [for the tournament], but we only have so much space and so much time and we’re running on a tight schedule with the two full days.”

With the sport continuing to grow within the city and province, Gorder said the sport has a promising future in Prince Albert and Saskatchewan.

“We’ve grown from 10 members here to over 130,” he said. “It’s definitely growing to the point where we’re looking for bigger facilities to play in, like dedicated court facilities in Prince Albert.”

This weekend’s tournament is a lead-up to the 2024 Pickleball Saskatchewan Provincial Tournament in Regina from June 7-9 and the 2024 Saskatchewan Senior Fitness Association (SSFA) 55+ Games in North Battleford from June 11-13.

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loganc.lehmann@pattisonmedia.com