This past weekend marked the second annual Arena Bowl Pickleball Challenge at the Gibsons and Area Community Centre. A total of 120 players and 87 teams participated this year.
Players and spectators came from all parts of the province to take part in a game considered to be the fastest growing sport in North America. The doubles tournament, co-sponsored by the Sunshine Coast Pickleball Association and the SCRD, awarded medals in 12 skill-level categories of play.
Sunshine Coasters earned 23 medals, some of them presented by Gibsons Mayor Wayne Rowe.
Gold medal winners: Dan & Kathy Hobbs 2.5 Mixed, Frank Cloutier & Pauline Owen 3.5 Mixed, Art Dew & Henry Wiebe 3.5 Men, Lin Bucker & Shelley Lawrence 4.0 Women. Silver medal winners: Jack Ban Brabant & Russ Drake 3.0 Men, Darcy Windblad 4.5 Men, Aare Kuusk & Carol Mollerup 2.5 Mixed, Alan Anderson & Sandra Watt 4.0 Mixed. Bronze medal winners: Tracy Koss 3.5 Women, Errol Lipschitz & Jim Pye 3.0 Men, Linda Dawson & Jack Van Brabant 3.0 Mixed, Darcy Windblad & Bonnie Gibbon 4.0 Mixed, Lin Buckler & John Bell 4.5 Mixed.
With the ice out at the Gibsons and Sechelt arenas, pickleball can be played five days a week. New players are always welcome. Check www.SunshineCoastPickleball.org for schedules.
