Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
For the second straight year, Focus Up Pickleball and the World Compassion Network teamed up to hold the Winona Lake Sunset Pickleball Tournament, sponsored by K21 Health Foundation. After an incredibly successful event last year, even more people from Kosciusko County, other parts of Indiana, and even different states showed up to Limitless Park to participate.
A total of 270 people signed up for the event, 20 more people than last year’s.
“We can’t take much more than that,” tournament director Dave Thieme said. “It’s great to see so many people show up to play pickleball, we’re really happy with this year’s turnout.”
Proceeds from the tournament support the World Compassion Network (WCN), a disaster relief ministry located in Kosciusko County.
WCN partners with local churches and other relief organizations to mobilize resources and assistance for victims of disasters and property. The organization has responded to a variety of disasters, including hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, famine, earthquakes and more. WCN also leads mission trips all over the world.
“It’s a great organization that is so well run and goes to a wonderful cause. What they do is amazing,” Thieme said. “The people are even better. The staff is fantastic, they’re here volunteering day and night and we couldn’t ask for much more.”
The tournament itself featured players of all ages and backgrounds. It offered a multitude of divisions, including a senior division, 55 plus and an open division under age 55. Regardless of performance, each team was guaranteed at least five games, more if they won enough games to qualify for either the first or third place games.
In total, 225 games were played on Friday, while 190 were played on both Saturday and Sunday. With over 600 games being played in total, Thieme was incredibly pleased with how smoothly things went.
“We have an incredible staff here, it really was down to the last minute to get everything done but we were able to and it looks great out here,” Thieme said.
According to Thieme, a large chunk of the tournament entrants are based in Kosciusko County. Another large faction came in from Fort Wayne, as well as Indianapolis. Their furthest travellers made the trip from Florida to compete.
With two successful tournaments under their belt, Focus Up Pickleball and World Compassion Network are hoping this will continue to be an annual event.
“That’s the goal for sure,” Thieme said.
