Professional Pickleball in Charlotte

The PPA North Carolina Open was held for the second year in a row in Charlotte last month. As in the previous year, Jim and I decided to volunteer at the event. Unfortunately the PPA cut out some of the benefits of volunteering this time around, such as no included lunch and no free access to the venue except on the day or days you were volunteering. We liked our volunteer positions last year, and those were only available on Saturday - the semi finals of all events, so a good time to be there. I worked in the VIP section, which was right by Championship Court. I made sure all people in the section had the correct arm bands on, and made sure they had enough to eat and drink and answered questions. It was a great group of attendees, so I was mostly able to watch the pros play.

Jim was down by the Championship Court ensuring that people who had purchased court-side seats had the appropriate arm bands and a place to sit. From last year's experience we knew that they had oversold the seats and Jim had to deal with angry folks who couldn't find a place to sit. That was corrected this year, and there were no problems.

For Sundays finals we had purchased court-side seats. We arrived very early to make sure we would get a good seat, and that ended up to be a good move. Between Saturday and Sunday we met and talked to many of the pros we watch on t.v. or YouTube, and it was quite a thrill for us. There is just something about being able to see them play in person, and the Charlotte audience is very enthusiastic and appreciative of the PPA having one of their tournaments here.

Last year we hosted two pros at our house, but neither one was coming to Charlotte this year. Though I had put it out that we were willing to host, apparently there was a problem at the tournament in Florida recently with misbehaving female pros at a host's home, so the PPA is no longer reaching out to people to arrange housing. That is too bad, because we had such a great experience and were hoping to repeat it again. Hopefully our guys will come back next year!

North Carolina Open 2023

The PPA Comes Our Way

Last week the PPA North Carolina Open was held at LifeTime Charlotte. PPA stands for the Professional Pickleball Association, so that meant that many of the leading pros in the sport would be coming to Charlotte. Jim and I decided to volunteer on Sunday, since it was Mother's Day and we figured they would have a hard time fining volunteers on that day. We also offered to host one or two pros at our house.

Collin Johns & Patrick Smith

Because we have two extra bedrooms and bathrooms, Collin Johns and Patrick Smith took us up on our offer. Both are in the top ten of male pickleball players in the world, and had partnered up for men's doubles in this tournament. They also each played in mixed doubles.

As volunteers we could come on any or all of the days to watch play. Our guys had no games on Thursday, so Jim made them a nice breakfast while I went to my women's league play. Then they practiced on our courts here before heading to the venue to get some practice in on the indoor courts. Friday they played mixed doubles, and we went on a wine bus tour with our neighborhood. This event had been rescheduled from May of last year due to Covid.

Saturday the guys had their men's doubles games, so we spent the day at LifeTime watching. Someone ended up giving us wrist bands to sit in the VIP section, which was a slightly elevated seating area above the championship court. It was amazing to watch the pros play.

some of the winning pros

Our guys did not advance to the finals on Sunday, but we still had to work so we left them slumbering at 7:00 in the morning. As luck would have it, Jim got assigned to the championship court to check that guests had the correct wrist bands on, and I was assigned to the VIP section. Both of us had great opportunities to watch the gold medal matches of singles, men's, mixed doubles and women's play. It is totally different to watch the games live as opposed to on television or a computer. And to get caught up in the enthusiasm of the crowd was so fun! I definitely would volunteer to help out again, and Collin and Patrick are more than welcome to stay with us in the future. They were a delight to host. I learned a lot from picking their brains, and watching them play. Paddles up!