I went to my very first pickleball tournament in San Clemente! It was the Select Medical Orange County Cup presented by Intralinks as part of the Carvana Professional Pickleball Association (PPA) Tour, which has the top professionals competing. I got a courtside ticket with my friends for Championship Sunday and watched the Mixed Doubles, Men’s Singles, Women’s Doubles, Men’s Doubles, Women’s Singles.
The tournament was held at Life Time, which was a pretty nice venue with a lot of courtside seating and a nice pickleball court! I tried looking up more information on the tournament before the event, but it was surprisingly difficult to find the information I needed – I wish there was a FAQ section! Luckily, I was able to find out through my friend that parking is at a nearby school and a shuttle would transport people to Life Time.
It was a cloudy morning with a sprinkle of rain here and there. I arrived at the school with my friends, took the shuttle, and made it to Life Time. I checked in at the ticketing and registration booth and got a wristband, pin, and some snacks!
Since the shuttle took some time to get to Life Time (there were limited seats in the shuttle), the first match had already started. The courtside seats were on both sides of the court, with the elevated VIP seats on the shorter sides of the court. My friends and I found courtside seats that were very close to the front. The first match was the Mixed Doubles Gold, with Anna Leigh Waters/Ben Johns vs Catherine Parenteau/Tyson McGuffin. It was so intense to watch! The crowd would watch quietly until a good shot is made. The pickleball would go back and forth in the kitchen, and right when the ball is just high enough for a smash, SMASH!, someone would smash it.
The doubles matches were best of 5 games, and singles matches were best of 3. Both were to 11 points, win by 2. After every match, the winning team got to share their thoughts and hold the trophy! These were the players for Championship Sunday (winners in bold):
Mixed Doubles Gold – Anna Leigh Waters/Ben Johns vs Catherine Parenteau/Tyson McGuffin
Men’s Singles Gold – Connor Garnett vs Tyson McGuffin
Women’s Doubles Gold – Anna Leigh Waters/Catherine Parenteau vs Irina Tereschenko/Etta Wright
Men’s Doubles Gold – Collin Johns/Ben Johns vs Matt Wright/Riley Newman
Women’s Singles Gold – Anna Leigh Waters vs Catherine Parenteau
My favorite games to watch were the doubles matches, especially the Mixed Doubles and Men’s Doubles. I loved the matching colors the teams would wear. I was cheering for Ben Johns and Anna Leigh Waters! The game was so close for the Men’s Doubles. Collin and Ben Johns didn’t start out too well, but they were able to get it back together and win it! Every time the partners needed to talk to each other, they would hold up their paddle to hide their face, just as if they were sharing secrets. It was very fun and entertaining to watch!
I really liked the seats we found. It was so close to the front that it almost felt like you were just watching your friends play, except these are the pros. The weather was cool, so we weren’t burning in the sun too! It started sprinkling during the Men’s Doubles, but the game continued until the court got slippery. To dry off the court, the staff grabbed white towels and rubbed it over the court lines. I’ve never seen people dry a court like that! Luckily, the sprinkling didn’t get worse and the game was able to continue.
In between games, my friend and I would take turns running to take a restroom break, grabbing more food and snacks, and getting some free drinks! The restrooms were interesting. There were porta potties and also a portable restroom trailer, with a sink and a few stalls. There was a short wait for the restroom but overall, it was not too bad.
There were vendor booths surrounding the court, with Sanzo Sparkling Water, Roar Organic, Best Day Brewing, and more! The Roar Organic Strawberry Lemonade was really good – I wish I grabbed more! The mango flavor also sounded really good. I guess I’ll just have to get it next time! My favorite was the Carvana booth, where there was a machine shooting out pickleballs and you have to hit it towards a target. I was only able to hit one target and got a koozie, but it was fun!
For lunch, there weren’t that many options. There was just one booth with a small menu: burgers, hot dogs, salad, wraps, and fruit bowls. I decided to get a hot dog with chips. It was tasty, but also pricey!
After the last game, my friends and I decided to walk back to the school instead of wait for the shuttle. There were just too many people! We ended up at the school at the same time as the shuttle – technically, it was faster to walk because the passengers still had to wait to get off the shuttle.
Overall, I had a great first pickleball tournament experience! It was so fun watching the pros play, and I can’t wait to play more myself!
