Special to the News-Sun
LABELLE - A strong contingent of Tanglewood pickleballers headed down US 27 to LaBelle on Saturday, Dec. 8 and Sunday Dec. 9.
They participated in a skill level or "rated" tournament.
The women's doubles competition went off as scheduled and Tanglewood emerged with two teams medaling.
Danielle Crawfis partnered with Betty Schleis in the level 3.0 competition to earn silver.
In the level 4.5 flight, Deb Yandell and Diane Reynolds captured bronze.
In mixed doubles play, Jim Maynard and Gail Brown did Tanglewood proud with their silver medal at the 4.0 level.
The men's doubles play got started Saturday afternoon but was rained out, forcing the men to compete after the mixed doubles competition on Sunday.
Fortunately, the Riverbend Motorcoach Resort has courts that are floodlit and men's play continued on until midnight.
After some very gruelling competition, often against younger players, the Tanglewood men's teams captured three medals.
Tom Stadler and Randy Crawfis paired up for a bronze medal in the level 3.5 play.
A silver medal was earned by Clayton Farrar and Charlie Athorn at the 3.0 rating.
Our only gold medal of the day came when Jim Maynard and Wayne Buck, competing at level 4.0, staved off exhaustion and a very difficult opponent to clinch the win near midnight after a very long match.
A rated tournament means that the players are grouped according to their ability levels so that players can compete with others of similar ability.
Many tournaments are played using age categories.
The "rated" system makes for exciting play but Tanglewood's seniors discovered that there are some highly skilled "youngsters" playing pickleball in Florida.
It was reported that a teenager of 17 was in tough competition against some of our elder players.
In a late evening men's match, one of our senior men's teams lost to a team they had defeated earlier in the day.
The opponents were 27 and 40 something.
How are ratings determined?
Players can be self-rated by comparing one's own ability to a published set of criteria.
Ratings can also be determnined by a player's performance in tournaments.
Ratings go from a relative beginner at 2.5 to an extremely skilled player at level 5.0.
The Riverbend Tournament was yet another opportunity for Tanglewood players to hone their skills in preparation for Tanglewood's own "Winter Classic" Pickleball Tournament to be held on January 5 and 6.
Overheard on the Riverbend Courts; "Tanglewood should be the poster child on how to run a tournament."
With such high praise from other communities, the Tanglewood organizers, refs and players will have to work hard once again to prove their skills when they host teams from other Florida communities on January 5 and 6.
Wednesday, December 12, 2012 - www.newssun.com/WED-12-12-12-Pickleball