2013 Pickleball Canada National Open Championship Abbotsford, B.C.

Pickleball Canada is very pleased to announce that the 2013 Pickleball Canada National Open Championship will be held in Abbotsford, B.C.    The host sites will be the same at the Abbotsford Recreation Centre and Yale Secondary School.  The tournament dates will most likely be on the first weekend in July, 2013.  We will let you know when the dates are confirmed.  We thank you for your support of our first National tournament and we look forward to seeing you again next year!!!

Thanks for your Feedback on 2012 National Championship

We are extremely happy to receive the high number of positive feedback and outpouring of thank you emails.  Your comments and suggestions will be noted and considered for our future events.  
Thanks very much for your feedback.  Your feedback is very much appreciated.  

YouTube Video of Canadian National Pickleball Tournament 2012 Mixed Doubles

Watch the YouTube video: 
Canadian National Pickleball Tournament 2012_Mixed Doubles_SemiFinals

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wOoXXw0nTRI

Pickleball Canada July Newsletter

www.pickleballcanada.org/news/nl_2011_august.pdf

PICKLEBALL CANADA NATIONAL TOURNAMENT JULY 7 - 8 TOURNAMENT POINTS

2012 PICKLEBALL CANADA NATIONAL TOURNAMENT JULY 7 - 8 TOURNAMENT POINTS

Tier 1 -- National Tournament

1st Place ......1600 points

2nd Place .......800 points

3rd Place .......400 points

Member No. Name Tournament Points

192 Banns Paul 800

453 Booth Pat 800

443 Bourne Randy 2400

404 Brown Linda 800

17 Burke Ed 400

266 Caldwell Colin 800

411 Darvill Peter 2400

42 Edward Shirley 1600

303 Evans Larry 800

90 Gillis Diane 400

378 Khan Matt 400

189 Haworth Carol 2400

252 Hill Diane 3200

126 Hill Earl 1200

415 Jetelina John 2000

416 Jetelina Olga 2000

392 Jmaeff Dan 800

391 Jmaeff Brenda 1600

196 Kennedy Wayne 3200

470 Kusch Beryl 400

41 Kusch John 3200

385 Logan Gerry 400

183 Lehman SJ 400

418 Loskot Vera 3200

457 McWilliam Stewart 400

336 Mah Tim 400

28 Mezei Andy 800

248 Meerkerk Henry 400

402 Orcutt Teresa 1200

59 Orlovsky Ed 400

60 Orlovsky Lily 400

34 Parkes Brian 400

448 Parkes Kathy 400

377 Pool Claire 400

452 Postler Milda 2400

10 Power Doug 1200

461 Priebe Ross 800

176 Pemink Karen 400

370 Rudolph Jerry 400

3 Ross Doug 800

156 Saunders Jim 1600

157 Saunders Terry 1200

397 Thompson Joey 400

300 Touchet Dave 1600

386 Witt Mandy 400

423 Zhekhovskiy Denis 2400

422 Zhekhovskaya Luba 2400
Updated Aug 4, 2012:
Fosbery Pat  2000
Fosbery Sue  2000
Schwartz Mike  3200
Schwartz Laura 3200
Top Canadian National Champions with 3200 tournament points: John Kusch, Diane Hill, Wayne Kennedy, Vera Loskot, Mike and Laura Schwartz

National Tournament Group Photo & Results 2012

Tournament Results

Pickleball Canada National Open Championship - 2012-07-07
Men - Singles
	Gold	Silver	Bronze
Open	Billy Jacobsen	Chris Miller	Brian Lam
Women - Singles
	Gold	Silver	Bronze
Open	Jennifer Lucore	Darcie Jacobsen
Men - Doubles
	Gold	Silver	Bronze
19-55	Mike Schwarz - Pat Fosbery	Doug Power - Franz Wagner	Gene Latray - Ken Franz
55-59	Paul Ellis - Del Iggulden	Larry Evans - Ross Priebe	Stuart Mcwilliam - Phil Morgan
60-64	John Kusch - Dave Touchet	Randy Bourne - Paul Banns	Matt Khan - Henry Merkerley
65-69	Peter Darvill - Bud Meltsner	Doug Ross - Jim Saunders	Earl Hill - James Parkes
70+	John Jetelina - Wayne Kennedy	Andy Mezei - Jacques Metivier	Ed Burke - Jerry Rudolph
Open	Billy Jacobsen - Chris Miller	Reg Skinner - Denis Zhekhovskiy	Doug Power - Franz Wagner
Women - Doubles
	Gold	Silver	Bronze
19-55	Laura Schwarz - Sue Fosbery	Karen Iggulden - Shelley Coss	Terry Saunders - Colleen Power
55-59	Milda Postler - Shirley Edwards	Glenda Jackson - Brenda Jmaeff	Debbie Holley - Claire Pool
60-64	Kathy Parkes - Judy Van Aert	Pat Crawford - Janis Peusepp	Rosie Roper - Beryl Kusch
65-69	Diane Hill - Olga Jetelina	Pat Booth - Linda Brown	Mandy Witt - Gerry Logan
70+	Carol Haworth - Vera Loskot	Vi Stockman - Elaine Griffiths	Karen Peniuk - Patricia Thompson
Open	Jennifer Lucore - Darcie Jacobsen	Luba Zhekhovskaya - Elaine Lerner	Theresa Orcutt - S.j. Lehman
Mixed Doubles
	Gold	Silver	Bronze
19-55	Mike Schwarz - Laura Schwarz	Brian Lam - Milda Postler	Pat Fosbery - Sue Fosbery
55-59	Rosemary Nichols - Randy Bourne	Dan Jmaeff - Brenda Jmaeff	Nancy Stern - John Savoy
60-64	John Kusch - Elaine Lerner	Jim Saunders - Terry Saunders	Diane Gillis - Tim Mah
65-69	Diane Hill - Peter Oehlenschlaeger	Peter Darvill - Elaine Griffiths	John Jetalina - Olga Jetalina
70+	Wayne Kennedy - Vera Loskot	Carol Haworth - Earl Hill	Ed Orlosvky - Lilly Orlovsky
Open	Luba Zhekhovskaya - Denis Zhekhovskiy	Colin Caldwell - Theresa Orcutt	Del Iggulden - Karen Iggulden

Abbotsford News July 10, 2012 National Tournament article

Re: Abbotsford Newspaper: Pickleball Canada National tournament article July 10, 2012 http://www.abbynews.com/sports/161841435.html
Published: July 10, 2012 8:00 AM

Abbotsford hosted the inaugural Canadian pickleball championships on the weekend, a piece of news which would prompt most sports fans to ask – what on earth is pickleball?

 Pickleball is, in fact, a fast-growing game – there are over 100,000 players registered in the United States and roughly 10,000 players in Canada, including about 200 from Abbotsford.
It's a hybrid of tennis and badminton, played with a hard paddle and a wiffle-type ball on a badminton-sized court, with the net lowered to 36 inches.

 As for the origins of the colourful moniker, there's a bit of controversy.

 The popular account holds that when the sport's inventors, U.S. Congressman Joel Pritchard and William Bell, first devised the game in 1965 in Washington state, Pritchard's dog Pickles frequently chased down errant balls and hid with them in the bushes. Hence, Pickles' ball game came to be called pickleball.

 Pritchard's wife Joan has offered a differing version of events in recent interviews. The sport, which grew out of the haphazard equipment the family had on hand, reminded her of the "pickle boat" in rowing, where oarsmen were chosen from the leftovers from other boats. She noted the Pritchard family dog wasn't acquired until 1967 and was named after the game, not the other way around.

"It's kind of a dumb name," acknowledged Dave Shepherd, an Abbotsford resident who is on the board of Pickleball Canada. "But it's been around long enough, I don't think they'll ever change it."

And pickleball enthusiasts wouldn't have it any other way.

The weekend tournament drew 168 athletes from across Canada and the United States to a pair of local host sites, Abbotsford Recreation Centre and Yale Secondary.

Among the participants were four American national champions – Jennifer Lucore, Darcy Jacobsen, Billy Jacobsen and Chris Miller – and they dominated the open divisions. Lucore beat Darcy Jacobsen in the women's singles final, then teamed up with her to win the doubles title. In similar fashion, Billy Jacobsen knocked off Miller to claim the men's singles title, then joined him to earn doubles gold.

According to Shepherd, the presence of the top Americans moved the tourney to "a whole new level."

"They're the top pickleball players in the world, and to have them come up here and enter our first national event was just huge for us," he enthused. "Everyone was very fortunate to get to watch them play. It was kind of like going to watch (Roger) Federer and (Rafael) Nadal and those guys.

"It was just a fantastic event, super-successful. It exceeded our expectations."

Nine Abbotsford athletes won bronze medals. Gene Latray and Ken Franz teamed up to climb the podium in the under-55 men's doubles; Debbie Holley and Claire Pool medaled in the over-55 women's doubles; Matt Khan and Henry Meerkerk were third in the 60-plus men's doubles; Mandy Witt and Gerry Logan medaled in the 65-plus women's doubles; and Jerry Rudolph joined forces with Kelowna's Ed Burke to finish third in the 70-plus men's doubles.

Information on the local scene can be found at abbypickleball.blogspot.ca.

"Anyone who plays it, absolutely loves it," Shepherd said. "It's an easy sport to learn how to play, and it can be played by all ages."

2012 National Champions, Winners Names & photos July 7 - 8, 2012

On July 7th and 8th Abbotsford Rec. Centre was the host site of the first Pickleball Canada National Open Tournament.  ARC and Yale Secondary gyms provided 14 courts which enabled the City of Abbotsford to host this prestigious event.

168 registered participants from all over Canada and the USA were playing in this event including most of the top Canadian players.

Many of our top local players participated as well as large contingents from our neighbouring municipalities in addition to Vancouver Island and the Interior.

Top teams came from most Canadian provinces. The USA teams included players from Washington, Oregon, California, Arizona and Texas.

Top USA teams Jennifer Lucore and Darcy Jacobsen, Billy Jacobsen and Chris Miller. They are USAPA National Champions. Mayor Banman welcomed all the players and lead the singing of our National Anthem on Saturday morning. The level of play was superb, with 20 events scheduled over 2 days from 8am to 6 pm both days. 

Congratulations to all the winners. Dave and Shirley Shepherd from Abbotsford were the Tournament Directors and would like to thank all the participants, volunteers, referees and local sponsors of this event. It was a very festive occasion with many equipment suppliers displaying the latest products. A huge thank you to ARC, Mandy Hadfield and Jenny Thornton for helping us to host this National tournament.

Local Abbotsford winners included Gene Latray, Ken Franz, Debbie Holley, Claire Pool, Matt Khan, Henry Meerkerk, Mandy Witt, Gerry Logan and Jerry Rudolph.

A list of winners is shown below.

2012 Pickleball Canada National Open Championship on July 7 -8, 2012:

20  Events     GOLD                SILVER              BRONZE

OPEN Singles Mens Billy Jacobsen (Seattle,WA) Chris Miller (WA) Brian Lam (Coquitlam, BC)

OPEN Singles Womens Jennifer Lucore (San Deigo,CA) Darcie Jacobsen (Seattle, WA)

OPEN Doubles Mixed Zhekhovskaya/Zhekhovsky (Surrey,BC) Caldwell/Orcutt (Surrey,BC) Iggulden/Iggulden (Surrey,BC)

OPEN Doubles Mens Jacobsen/Miller (Seattle, WA) Skinner/Zhekhovskiy (Surrey,BC) Power/Wagner (Nanaimo,BC)

OPEN Doubles Womens Lucore/Jacobsen (Seattle,WA, California) Lerner/Zhekhovskaya (Surrey,BC) Orcutt/lehman (Surrey,BC)

Under 55 Doubles Mixed Schwarz/Schwarz (Nanaimo,BC) Lam/Postler (Coquitlam,BC/Kelowna)Fosbery/Fosbery (Kelowna,BC)

Under 55 Doubles Mens Schwarz/Fosbery (Nanaimo,BC) Power/Wagner (Surrey,BC) Gene Latray/Ken Franz (Abbotsford, BC)

Under 55 Doubles Womens Schwarz/Fosbery (Nanaimo,BC) Iggulden/Coss (Surrey,BC) Saunders/Power (Kelowna, BC)

55+ Doubles Mixed, NicholsBourne (Vernon, BC) Jmaeff/Jmaeff (Kelowna,BC) Stern/Savoy (Nanaimo, BC)

55+ Doubles Mens, Ellis/Iggulden (Surrey, BC) Evans/Priebe (Regina,SK/Surrey,BC)McWilliam/Morgan (Kelowna,BC)

55+ Doubles Womens, Postler/Edwards (Surrey, BC) Jackson/Jmaeff (Kamloops,BC) Debbie Holley/Claire Pool (Abbotsford, BC)

60+ Doubles Mixed, Kusch/Lerner (Surrey, BC) Saunders/Saunders (Kelowna,BC) Gillis/Mah (Surrey, BC)

60+ Doubles Mens, Kusch/Touchet (Surrey, BC) Bourne/Banns (Surrey, BC) Matt Khan/Henry Meerkerk (Abbotsford, BC)

60+ Doubles Womens, Kathy Parkes/Judy Van Aert(Chilliwack,BC/Langley,BC) Crawford/Peusepp (Kelowna, BC) Roper/Kusch (California, USA/Surrey, BC)

65+ Doubles Mixed, Hill/Oehlenschlaeger (Nanaimo,BC) Darvill/Griffiths 
(Ladner,BC/Chilliwack,BC) Jetalina/Jetalina (Surrey, BC)

65+ Doubles Mens, Darvill/Meltsner (Ladner, BC/Blaine,WA) Ross/Saunders (Surrey,BC/Kelowna,BC) Hill/Parkes (Surrey,BC/Chilliwack, BC)

65+ Doubles Womens, Hill/Jetelina (Surrey, BC) Booth/Brown (Kelowna, BC) Mandy Witt/Gerry Logan (Abbotsford, BC)

70+ Doubles Mixed, Kennedy/Loskot (Surrey,BC/CA) Haworth/Hill (Chilliwack,BC/AZ) Orlosvky/Orlovsky (North Vancouver, BC)

70+ Doubles Mens, Jetelina/Kennedy (Surrey,BC) Mezei/Metivier (Surrey, BC) Ed Burke/Jerry Rudolph (Kelowna,BC/ (Abbotsford, BC)

70+ Doubles Womens Haworth/Loskot (Chilliwack/BC/Surrey,BC) Stockman/Griffiths (Lynden,WA,Chilliwack,BC)Penink/Thompson (Kelowna, BC)

Photos of National Championship July 7 -8, 2012

Pickleball Canada National Open Championship July 7 - 8, 2012.  The tournament was a great success !!!  Everything went smoothly with 20 events on 14 indoor courts, 114 medals presented to winners.  ARC and Yale Secondary School were jammed packed with 168 players, 17volunteers, 12 referees, and lots of spectators, 8 Pickleball Canada Directors and 15 Ambassadors.   Mayor Banman welcomed the players at the opening ceremony.  The atmosphere was festive, fun, friendly and happy.  There were displays of several pickleball suppliers, gift baskets and prizes from many sponsors.  Food and drinks were served on both days with sandwiches, chips, muffins, fresh fruit, etc. Each participant receives a waterbottle, $5 Thrifty Foods gift certificate, City of Abbotsford brochures and coupons.

It was so exciting to watch the matches with top players from Canada and the USA.  Four USAPA National Champions Chris Miller, Billy and Darcie Jacobsen and Jennifer Lucore (all 5.0 skill levels) were fantastic to watch.  I watched the final two matches of the Canadian team Luba Zhekhovskaya and Elaine Lerner against the USA team Jennifer Lucore and Darcie Jacobsen in Open Womens Doubles.  The matches were so close with lots of cheers and applause and very exciting to watch because it was like watching the tennis pros play in open tournaments where you have to pay a lot of money to be a spectator.  The USA team finally won.  The Open Mens and Womens Singles matches also drew large number of spectators.  I watched Open Mens Doubles with USA team Chris Miller and Billy Jacobsen against Canada team Denis Zhekhovskiy and Reg Skinner, fantastic play by the top notch players from the two countries.  Play started at 8:30 am and ended at 5:30 pm on both days.
Updates:  July 15, 2012
A big thank you to the City of Abbotsford for hosting this event, Jenny Thornton, Mandy Hadfield and Dino Tsembelis for organizing and planning with Dave and Shirley Shepherd, Tournament Directors.
Ed Burke - Photographer and newsletter publisher
Medal Presenters - Bill Canning and Shirley Shepherd
Membership - Larry and Debra Evans
Referees - Colin Caldwell, Linda Dane, Earl Hill, Brian Parkes, Carol Haworth, Del Iggulden, Rosie Roper, Grant Brittain......
Volunteers:  Rita Meerkerk and her granddaughter, Henrietta, Iris Vlake, Henry and Dawna.
17 Volunteers from City of Abbotsford 
Local and National sponsors:
Pickle-Ball Inc., Pickleball International.
A raffle of 65 prizes include paddles, caps, t-shirts, bags, golf passes, seafood, chocolates, games, restaurant vouchers, gift certificates etc. from our sponsors:
Pro-Lite Sports, Pickleball Specialties, Pickleball Outfitters, Pickleball Central, I got it Pickleball, Murrey G.M. Abbotsford, North Bellingham Golf Course, Great Clips, ARC, King and Prince Seafood, Surburban Swings, Ocean Park Pizza, Me n Ed Pizza, Old Spaghetti Factory, 3 large Gift baskets from:  IGA, Phoenix Lounge and Tourism Abbotsford.
Some of the out-of-town participants are:
B.C. - Ed Burke, Christine Perras, Jim and Terry Saunders, Doug Ross, Tim Mah, Brian Lam, Keith and Linda Brown, John and Pat Booth, Jim Boris, Ken Akins, Glenn Degregario.....
Alberta - Linda Dane (Edmonton,AB), Dorothy Downie, Bill Canning (Red Deer, AB), Jake Jacobsen, Hazel Sakaluk. 
Sask.- Larry and Debra Evans
Ontario - Peter Werry (PAO Treasurer), Peter and Susan Singleton (London, ON)
Washington, USA - Vi Stockman, Earl Hill, Billy and Darcie Jacobsen, Chris Miller, Jason Hanson, Alan Gadbaw, Bud Meltsner.
California - Rosie Roper, Devon Heys, Lisa Copeland, Jennifer Lucore, Gordon Bolton, Maria Doest
Texas - PJ Leonard

The Times Newspaper: Pickleball championship at ARC July 7 - 8, 2012

Pickleball championship at ARC  The Times July 5, 2012

The National Pickleball Championship is July 7 - 8 at the Abbotsford Recreation Centre, 2499 McMillan Rd. The event runs from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. both days and is the largest pickleball (like badminton with a low net) tournament in Canada.
Four U.S. national champions will compete along with Canadian teams from B.C., Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Ontario. U.S. teams are coming from Washington, California, Arizona and Texas. There will be 165 players, 20 events of men's and women's, singles and doubles, in open and age categories.
The play will be on 14 indoor courts, eight at ARC and six at Yale Secondary School. Abbotsford Mayor Bruce Banman will open the event at 8 a.m. on Saturday. There will be prizes and medal presentations for the national champions and spectators are invited to come down and watch.

© Copyright (c) Abbotsford Times

Read more: http://www.abbotsfordtimes.com/sports/Pickleball+championship/6886417/story.html#ixzz1zrRvZjaQ

Tournament Points and Player Ratings in National Tournament

Pickleball Canada will be awarding Tournament Points and Player Ratings to the winners of the National tournament on July 7 - 8, 2012.
Tier 1 - National Tournament

1st Place .......1600 points

2nd Place .......800 points

3rd Place .......400 points

Awarding of Points

1. Points will only be awarded to Pickleball Canada members.
2. Points earned will only be counted towards Tournament Points in the events in which they were earned.
3. Players may only receive Tournament Points from playing in approved events in Pickleball Canada  Sanctioned Tournaments.

Purpose of Tournament Points

1. Tournament Points are awarded as recognition of achievement in Sanctioned Tournaments.
2. Tournament Points may be used by Tournament Directors to determine seeding in tournament brackets.
3. Tournament Points may be used by the Ratings Committee to determine a player's rating.

IFP Rules change July 1, 2012 Paddles Specifications

Players are reminded to use conforming paddles approved by IFP rules at the National tournament.  Effective July 1, 2012, IFP rules change: Rule 2.E.5. Homemade paddles will no longer be allowed in sanctioned tournament play.  These changes can be found atusapa.org under Official Rules. They will be included in the next printing of the rulebook.  Rule 2.E.5. Alterations: (deleted: Homemade or) Modified paddles are acceptable so long as they meet all specifications.

It is becoming increasingly difficult for tournament directors to determine if homemade paddles meet all of the paddle specifications so homemade paddles will no longer be allowed in sanctioned tournament play. Modified paddles such as added edge guards, changed grips, etc. will still be allowed if they meet all the specifications.