THUNDER BAY – True North Pickleball held a Lakehead Open tournament Saturday at the Boulevard Lake Courts where 36 players both local and visiting came out to participate.
“We travel around the country running tournaments. So this is the first one in Thunder Bay. Last year we did Kenora and Saskatoon and we’re doing the same thing this year, but we’ve added Thunder Bay in as well and it’s a beautiful spot,” said Ryan Hanes, tournament director.
“Everyone was anxious this morning and they’re moving through their matches pretty well, having a great time so it should be an awesome day.”
Jason Horychuk, media and promotions head instructor for Lakehead Pickleball Club says that the Club’s members were definitely thrilled to be able to play.
“They’re super excited. We had a small tournament this past December, we had about 23 people out and we were all bogged down because of a cold winter,” he said. “And you can see that everybody’s excited. We have spectators that came out to see us and family and friends and we’ll be here until about 6 p.m. today.”
With the growing interest in Pickleball in Thunder Bay, Horychuk says that he hopes to see more people coming out and possibly joining the club.
“We have over 100 members now, there are over 250 people that are playing in Thunder Bay that are registered on our site and we’re playing three different inside venues and we have this great venue,“ he said. “It’s a great day at Boulevard today, 30 degrees, and you can’t ask for anything more.”
The Next True North Pickleball open will be held in Kenora in two-week's time.
