The 2019 Vulcan US National Indoor Pickleball Championships, set to kick off Thursday night at Bank OZK Arena, is expected to have 400 to 450 players participating from all over the country, the event's title sponsor said Thursday.
"That would put this tournament in the large tier category making it among the biggest in the country or even the world," Vince Signorelli, CEO of Tanners Team Sports and Vulcan Pickleball, which is sponsoring the tournament this year, said.
"It's pretty remarkable that a tournament of this size exists right here in Hot Springs," he said, noting there is a "very big one," the Texas Open, in Dallas, but it's an outdoor tournament. The only indoor one as big is the GAMMA Classic in Pittsburgh, which has around 600 players. "It's comparable to that one, but that's way up north," he said.
This will actually be the third annual pickleball tournament held at the arena, but the first two years it was called the Mid-America Indoor Championships, started by Jim and Sandy McPherson, of Hot Springs Village.
Winnie Montgomery, who took over as tournament director last year, said the first year they had 270 players and about 375 the second year but already have over 400 signed up for this year. "We were going to cap it at 450 and had up to 443," but some backed out, she said.
"It became a large regional tournament almost instantly," Signorelli said, noting he approached Montgomery this year about Vulcan being the title sponsor. "The Vulcan Pickleball line is launching all throughout 2019 and we knew this tournament in our hometown was going to be in July. Obviously, when it comes to sponsorship, we wouldn't want one of our competitor brands coming right up in our own hometown so we worked out a deal.
"It's a great partnership because (Vulcan's) whole team is here in Hot Springs so we're not just a sponsor, but can help out in a lot of other ways," he said.
"I've worked tournaments all over the nation and I've never seen a sponsor come in and do what they were willing to do," Montgomery said. "It's just massive."
Signorelli said Montgomery and the Vulcan team began "brainstorming what would be fun this year," and decided to make it a national tournament and draw players from all over the country, with players from over 25 states expected.
Montgomery said they could have more players but "my choice was to keep it a destination event. I know a lot of players who are coming in on Monday and some plan to stay for a few days after it's over. We try to keep it so we get them out of the venue at a reasonable hour, our goal is 6:30 p.m., so they have several hours of daylight left to enjoy the area."
"We could have 600 players, but with a lot of other tournaments they play until 11 p.m. (to fit them all in)," Signorelli said. "That's how they get that many. We want people to come and play all day and go out that evening and enjoy the downtown and the rest of Hot Springs."
Montgomery noted they have referees for every match, not just the medal matches like some tournaments, and both line judges and referees for the medal matches. "With some tournaments, you call your own except for the medal matches, but that's not how pickleball is supposed to be run."
She said actual competition will be Friday through Sunday, but the event will begin Thursday. "We will be setting up courts. There will be some competitions, just fun things, skills competitions, so people can get used to the courts and the floor. Some clinics and the opening ceremony will be at 5:30 p.m."
One of the sport's top players, Rachel Kroog, will provide entertainment for Thursday night's event, she said, noting, "She sings and dances and does ventriloquism." The emcee will be Cole McCaskill, vice president of economic development for the Hot Springs Metro Partnership, with Mayor Pat McCabe giving the opening welcome to the players.
Signorelli said "some of the best players in the world" are coming, including Daniel De La Rosa, a pro out of Arizona, and his wife, Michelle, also one of the top players in the country. One of the pros coming, Dean Petty, "just beat the number six player in the world" at a tournament. "The talent level is going to be really exciting to watch," he said.
Montgomery and Signorelli both stressed that while players pay an entry fee to participate in the tournament, the event is "totally free and open to the public. Anyone can come," including the opening ceremony and the competition each day.
"Because we have the arena, with the courts down through the center, you can sit up in the stands and see every court," Montgomery said. "With binoculars you could watch every game." The event will feature 24 courts.
"We're really hoping people who have heard about pickleball and are curious will come to the convention center to watch and see what it's all about," Signorelli said.
David Tappe, an expert level player who, along with his partner, Kate Tully, teaches pickleball clinics with their new company, Vulcan IQ Pickleball, said the sport of pickleball is "just absolutely exploding."
Tappe said the attraction of the sport is "you're working with 8-year-olds and 80-year-olds and everything in between. You will find high, high-level competition but social laughter and good fun all in the same venue, all in the same tournament."
"I've been involved at the national level in eight different sports as a coach, competitor or official," Montgomery said. "I've never found a sport where you can take a 5-year-old or an 80-year-old who have never picked up a paddle before and within 30 minutes have them being able to at least have fun and play the game a little bit."
"It's a very fun, social event, but if you want to get serious and competitive you can do that too," Tully said. "The community around pickleball is so welcoming and so friendly. Even the advanced players are in it for the social aspect as much as the competition. We love our sport and we want people to play it."
Montgomery said one of the aspects that makes it so social is the size of the court. "You can stand on the baseline and talk to each other. There's more interaction."
Tournament play is divided by age groups and skill levels, with multiple categories including men's and women's singles, men's and women's doubles, and mixed doubles. Skill levels are ranked by number with a beginner at 2.0, and gradually going up through 2.5, 3.0, 3.5, up to the highest expert level at 5.0.
Tappe said the sport is more accessible because "the ball is slower, the paddle is easier to handle than a tennis racket. It's closer to your hand. The net is lower. The court is smaller. But don't let that deceive you. It makes it easier to learn, but you get up to the 5.0 level of play and it's fierce."
"It has a silly name, but in the upper levels the techniques and skill and speed goes way up," Montgomery said. "There's a lot of eye-hand coordination and reflexes."
"There's a lot of strategy at that level. It gets complex," Tully said. "It's a fascinating game to watch."
Signorelli said Vulcan decided to transition the tournament to the new "national" name to reflect how important and big the tournament has become. He said a portion of the proceeds will go to Project Hope Foodbank and SOZO Recovery Centers. He said he plans to turn the annual event into a 100 percent charity fundraiser.
"It is a great promotion for my company, but I do not intend to try and make money with it. Our vision is to partner with a charity, raise money for them, and take the whole event to another level," he said.
Local on 07/14/2019