“I’ve never hated you more,” Chris McCuen yelled across the court after opponent Leon Bester scored a point against him during the Shawville Pickleball Club’s first-ever tournament on Wednesday morning.
Twelve of the club’s 35 or so members gathered on the pickleball courts which were added to the tennis courts at Pontiac High School last fall.
Club member Cheryl Welsh was the visionary behind the tournament.
“This is just a fun way to try and get everybody out and into the summer mode,” she said.
“I’m a real sports fanatic and I love to play and I just put it out there and these people all reached out and said ‘yeah we would love to’. At my age you’ve got to keep going right?”
McCuen, in his rageful slander was, of course, only joking.
“This league is not really rules-oriented,” Welsh admitted. “We try to have fun.”
Each game was accompanied by commentary from the active peanut gallery on the sidelines.
“That ball needed a passport,” shouted Green Lake cottager Lynne Bellemare from her camping chair, after a hit from McCuen sent the ball way out of bounds.
“I like that,” McCuen laughed from the court. “I’m going to use that!”
Each of the 12 players collected points based on how they did in each game. After all games were finished, Welsh tallied up the points to determine the winners of first, second and third place.
Bellemare won first place, Robert Deguire won second and Denis Lalonde won third.
All players also voted for those they believed should win the two awards for best sportsmanship, which in this inaugural year went to Karen McIsaac and Denis Lalonde.
McCuen made the plaques for these awards himself, using a computer-operated machine to carve custom designs into two pieces of wood.
Both women’s and men’s awards feature a cartoon pickle decked out in pickleball attire, to honour the light hearted spirit of the club.
“This crowd is so fun,” McCuen said. “You heard the shots that were fired. Everybody is well intended.”
