All five pickleball players from Port Townsend who took part in the Washington State Senior Games in Lakewood won gold medals in their respective age and skill divisions.

Lynn Pierle, one of the PT players, explained divisions with four or fewer entries went into a round robin format, while those with five or more entries were sorted into bracket play.

“Bracket play usually involves more games,” Pierle said. “The skill ranges from 3.0 to 5.0, with 5.0 being the 'pro' level, and they often combined skill levels.”

The State Senior Games' Pickleball Tournament ran Aug. 4-5, at Clover Park High School in Lakewood, with Pierle, Bob Bruns, Jeannie Ramsey, Rick Kelley and Doug Warren representing Port Townsend.

On Aug. 4, Pierle and her partner Karen Wick, of Everett, won the gold medal in the Women's Doubles round robin for the ages 65-69 and 3.5-4.0 skill level divisions, while Ramsey and her partner Beverly Hoffman, of Sequim, won the gold medal in Women's Doubles for the ages 70-74 and 3.0-4.0 skill level divisions.

That same Saturday saw Kelley and Warren win the gold medal in Men's Doubles for the ages 60-64 and 3.5-4.0 skill level divisions.

On Aug. 5, Pierle and Warren won the gold in Mixed Doubles for the ages 60-64 and 3.0-3.5 skill level divisions.

“Doug and I played 13 games, in 88- to 90-degree heat, and finally prevailed after seven hours,” Pierle said. “We lost to a couple in the second round, and then had to come up from the losers' bracket and beat them twice to win the gold.” 

That same Sunday, Bruns and Ramsey won the gold medal in Mixed Doubles for the ages 70-74 and 3.5 skill level divisions.

When asked what got her and her Port Townsend teammates into pickleball in the first place, Pierle credited the Mountain View YMCA playing an “instrumental” role in helping to grow the sport locally.

“Pickleball is the fastest growing sport in the world, and might well be the fastest growing sport in Port Townsend as well,” Pierle said. “We have a local, loosely formed pickleball group in town, but it's not a formal club yet.”

Pickleball is a paddle sport that combines elements of badminton, tennis and table tennis, with two or four players using solid paddles to hit a perforated ball over a net. The sport shares the dimensions and layout of a badminton court, and a net and rules somewhat similar to tennis, and was invented in the mid-1960s.

Pierle credited Mary Critchlow and Jack Olmsted with organizing and helping people learn the game, and directed people to Olmsted's blog at pttennis.blogspot.com.

Pierle also reiterated her praise for the YMCA at Mountain View, for providing Port Townsend pickleball players with four outdoor courts and two indoor courts, the schedules for which can likewise be found on Olmsted's blog.

“In addition, there are pickleball courts at the private communities of Kala Point, Port Ludlow and Cape George, where one can play if invited as a guest,” Pierle said. “The five of us who went to the State Senior Games belong to one or more of these different groups of pickleball players in Port Townsend.”

Pierle herself plays with the groups in Port Townsend, Kala Point and Cape George, the latter being where she lives.

“I also joined the Sequim Picklers, a formal, organized club of about 200 members in Sequim,” Pierle said. “The Picklers, with the help of the city, just recently built eight dedicated, state-of-the-art pickleball courts at Carrie Blake Park.”

While this marked the first State Senior Games for Kelley, Warren and Bruns, Pierle has competed in four so far, while Ramsey has competed in five, and all the players have participated in other pickleball tournaments.

“I love pickleball,” Pierle said. “It's great exercise. It's not difficult to learn or play. It gets your heart beating, your muscles moving and your joints juiced. I used to be a tennis player, so the game came to me easily, but it's not as demanding as tennis, or as hard on your body.”

Pierle touted pickleball as ideal for seniors, because “it keeps your brain active as well, serving as both a mental and a physical exercise, in addition to being “a fabulous way” to meet people.

“I have made so many wonderful friends all around the region because of this sport, folks I probably would never had met otherwise,” Pierle said. “If someone is interested in learning or playing pickleball, and doesn't live in a community like Kala Point or Cape George, they should contact the Port Townsend YMCA to get more information. There are a number of players around who also teach the game, and the Y can put someone in touch with a coach.”