Pickleball at the Lee County Senior Games in Ft. Myers, Fl

We were on the road to the Wa-Ke Hatchee Recreation Center in Ft. Myers early on Saturday morning for the beginning of our two day pickleball tournament.  Rich was scheduled to play in the doubles competition on Saturday and the Mixed Doubles on Sunday.  Both of us would be helping to referee games both days.

Our friends Nancy Meyer and Cindy Eddleman out of Ft. Myers Florida were the tournament directors for this event, so we knew that it would be well organized, the Pickleball Specialties booth would be set up to purchase pickleball equipment and the competition would be top notch!.   We were not disappointed.

Trying to referee and take pictures of the tournament was not an easy task.  But I did manage to get a few pictures of Rich and his partners as well as some of our friends who were also competing

Below are pictures taken on Saturday during the doubles competition.  Starting from the top left are: Marlene and Kathy from Solivita,  Michelle and Gail from Tanglewood in Sebring, Nancy Meyer and her partner Marcia from Ft. Myers, Diane and Linda from Tanglewood,  David Jordan from Arizona and Mike from Ft. Myers, playing Tim Diffenderfer from Solivita and Steve from Stone Crest in Summerfield,  Al and our RV Buddy John Foard, Barb and Toni from Anna Maria Island - All the ladies on the courts, and  the last picture is of Diane and Linda (Tanglewood) playing Marlene and Kathy from Solivita in the Gold/Silver medal match.

Rich's regular partner was not able to make this tournament so he partnered up with Jim Cetlinsiki out of the Stone Crest Community in Summerfield. These two have played with a group of other players each year when we visit The Villages.   Jim is younger than Rich so they had to play in the 55-59 age group.   Unfortunately there were not a lot of players in that division so it was combined with the 50-54 group!!   So instead of playing in his usual 60-64 bracket with guys his own age he had to play against all those young guys!!  He and Jim played eight games before they were eliminated from the medal rounds.    Below are some pictures of Rich and Jim.

Both of us refereed several games the rest of the day, until after 5:00.  We headed back to the room and did dinner again at Mel's Diner.  It was Shrimp/Pasta fro Rich and I did the Tuscan Chicken with Pena Pasta.  Once again the meal was outstanding!

On Sunday morning we checked out early and arrived at the courts for the Mixed Doubles competition about 7:45.   Below are some pictures starting top left of Nancy Meyer and Mike from Ft. Myers finishing one of there first matches, Rich visiting with Byron - who we just met today and who plays an awesome game and was also one of the tournament referees. In the center is Gail and Gordon (far court) from Tanglewood, Diane and her partner Walter (near court) also from Tanglewood.  At the bottom is Bill Wilson and Barbara Smith (near court) from Anna Maria Island and in the last picture is Nancy and Mike again playing in their gold medal match!

Rich and Linda played some awesome pickleball today against some formidable opponents.  The pictures below are of their two matches against Tim Diffenderfer and Kathy Miller from Solivita.  Rich and Linda took the first match, sending Tim and Kathy to the Back Draw where they had to work their way back to play for the Gold.  They met up once more with Rich and Linda.  It was a great match and Rich and Linda came out on top.   

Below are the final four! Rich and Linda taking the gold and Tim and Kathy the Silver. Some really great pickleball!

 Once again, Rich and I refereed, but headed for home about 3:00.  We stopped in Arcadia at the Clock Restaurant for dinner.   Suffice it to say that we DO NOT recommend this restaurant for anything other than a cup of coffee!!!  The meal was SO bad.   We declined a complimentary dessert - but they did deduct 30% off our total bill. 

The evening ended with a visit with Krystal and Nate.  The weather was perfect for sitting out so we enjoyed a beverage and a little conversation and then called it a night!