Having never been to Nationals I thought a day-by-day amateur observation report of the 2022 Margaritaville USA Pickleball National Championship might be useful. Sadly, I didn’t begin writing it each day so this is more of a what-do-you-remember-report.
Leaving from Columbus, Ohio, I was up at 3 am for my trip. I tried to sleep on my 2 plane flights and I’m sure I got some sleep here and there. Honestly, I did sleep well the night before so I wasn’t dragging too much. I was however completely off schedule with food.
When I landed in Palm Springs I was almost immediately outside. It was a tiny little airport that was like an outdoor shopping center. I thought it was wild to have to go outside to go to the bathroom and then I thought, how do I get my luggage? Easy enough to find, just look for the other tiny building with doors. Everything else was outside.
Lucky enough for me my doubles partner picked me up from the airport and asked if I was hungry. Since I was hungry she told me to find a place to eat which is not a strength of mine. I don’t use Yelp, I don’t research food places, I have no idea the best way to find the best meal so I said, that place looks good, I bet they have breakfast. “It’ll be great, it’s my Dad’s initials.” We crossed 3 lanes of traffic and parked.
JT’s Diner had breakfast and lunch which was a tough call for me. I never want to pass on a hot dog off a menu but I really wanted Huevos Rancheros. My partner ordered their special French Toast made with croissants. Mine was delicious and so was hers. It’s a perk being around light eaters.
I did zero research on the area before I came so the sand mountains as a backdrop to the flat, palm tree lined roads was fairly interesting. Almost everywhere I went I thought or said out loud, I can’t decide if this is pretty or just neat because it’s so different.
To enter the facility we had to pay to park. Volunteers were abundant and there was not a lot of traffic making it easy to get in and out. There was a short walk and no line to pick up my credential, which they didn’t have. I sent it in, I’m on the list, I did everything right but, no credential. So either there are two Lara Thornton credentialed people roaming around the tennis grounds or someone really dropped the ball on the credential making. No problem, they would print another (or the first).
I was greeted by more volunteers and directed to walk through a scanner. There wasn’t anything concerning in my bag but my partner had an Altoid breath freshener can that set the thing off over and over. Her breath always smelled good though.
The courts were beautiful and the venue was awesome. It wasn’t super overwhelming and was spread out nice. The landscape views were phenomenal. My partner wanted to practice and I’m grumpy and cautious about ‘jumping on a court’ at tournaments. But this was clear – you could practice. You could go on any court and play, practice, do whatever.
I went shopping at the main souvenir store and there were lots of reasonably priced shirts, hats, keepsakes. There were lots of overpriced stuff too, brand specific. I walked through the rest of the vendors which didn’t have a lot of swag. Mostly just your typical paddles, CBD drinks, water bottles, etc. The big brands were around the corner and almost everyone had a mini net with people dinking just to disrupt traffic.
I walked up the stairs to watch some on the stadium court. It was an awesome view but steps at a pickleball tournament aren’t the smartest. What old person wants to climb steps?
I went to the Pickleball Central tent determined to test a Selkirk Invikta air. I’ve never been a Selkirk fan, for no particular reason, so I decided to let go of my ridiculous bias and use their temporary court to test it out. Being the smart ass I am, I asked if they had the Diadem VICE paddle, which is not USAPA approved and not out yet, and they of course did not. I did like the Invikta air so maybe that will be my next paddle.
I had no idea what time it was but once we caught up with some friends we decided to sneak out for some lupper (lunch, supper, who knows?). We picked a Mexican restaurant that wasn’t impressive and we learned that Pepsi is cheaper than Coke. I don’t drink either, but this apparently was a factor in our food choices moving forward. Fortunately on Day 2 we ran into some more friends who visit the area regularly and they provided us some nice food options for the rest of the week.
I played some games to loosen up but was ready to crash shortly after.
I was up early, like 4 a.m., but that was ok because I think I went to sleep by 8:30. I went to watch my friend play and brought my camera with the intent to take as many photos as possible of people I knew. Normal people who play love to have photos taken of them. It’s not a thing tournaments do, they just want photos of the pros. A photographer could make some decent money by alerting people in advance he’d be at a tournament and agreeing to take photos of them if they gave him a flat fee. I digress on the pickleball business ideas.
Some of the morning games were delayed because the courts were wet. It was really cold (40-50ish degrees) in the a.m., beautiful, sunny and warm during the day and as soon as the sun went down it was cold again.
I took photos all day, walking around watching and supporting my friends.
I left the courts and took my partner’s mixed partner to the house he stayed at the night before, which happened to be where Tyson McGuffin was staying. Once I was able to get out of the back seat of the rental car (Audi A5) I felt really cool to be at McGuffin’s house. He wasn’t there though so I didn’t storm the door.
We went to eat at Del Taco, a fast food joint with Coke to drink. I’d never been so I told the employees I was a first timer and asked what I should order. I got responses from 3 different employees and none of them suggested tacos. I ordered tacos.
We went back to the courts to practice with my mixed partner. There were no issues getting on a court. We were able to drill, picked up a game with some awesome 4.5 ladies from Seattle, Washington and I felt pretty good about being game-ready.
We decided to pick up pasta for dinner at Marios and took it home to eat. It was decent pasta but it truly was a pre-game routine, superstition for me. I didn’t care what it tasted like.
I was in full panic by the time we had dinner because I realized about 2 hours before that I had not hydrated throughout the day. I think I went to pee twice the whole day. I tried to chug a bunch of Gatorade and water but I didn’t want to pee all night so I gave up and decided to accept the consequences, whatever they may be.
My lips were dry so I started loading up on chap stick.
Zonked out before 9 again.
Game day! There was a long line for credentials but because my partner played the day before I knew to go check in for my swag (a hat) at a different location. No lines there. Got a warm up game with a nice couple and felt ready to play. We heard the National Anthem because we were the early birds. The courts weren’t wet and I didn’t need my pants, long sleeve shirt or vest. I went straight to t-shirt before my game started.
I still am incapable of standing still during the National Anthem. I have no idea where all the wiggle in me came from but 50 years later, it’s still there.
Played our games (4 total) and didn’t deal with any wind issues or sun problems. My partner tried a few times to take advantage of the sun and I think it worked a little in one game, the guy wasn’t happy about it but didn’t lose his cool enough to let it affect his game. I also didn’t have any hydration cramps and was able to fill my water bottle with ease (water jugs near every court) throughout the day.
We all hopped in my partner’s car (he rented a fancy Camaro) and tested its pick-up speed in and out of traffic on the way to a bar called The Beer Hunter Sports Bar and Grill. They didn’t have Coke but we enjoyed the food and I was fascinated that part of their décor was professional golfers golf bags hanging from the ceiling.
We went back to the courts so I could take a few more photographs for stories we wrote for People of Pickle. Friends were texting me about a deal Franklin had on pickleballs so I went to check if the deal existed. Yes! I could get 100 balls for $150 but I had to take them home with me. Sorry friends, not checking 100 balls with my luggage. They gave me a discount code that I shared with many friends and I felt good helping out my Columbus buddies.
I stepped out of the Franklin tent to text people and was shocked at how loud the audio was right over my head. A man came up to me and said, hey, you stopped right in front of the TV.
OMG, I scuffled off quickly, embarrassed that I had planted myself right in front of a giant television that apparently the old people who didn’t want to climb the stairs were watching. There were a lot of people. Since the games were over and I was off the next day I hit up the Margaritaville Bar for a frozen Pickleball Rita. It was delicious.
We saw friends from Middletown and told them they could practice any time, the courts were always available. It was neat seeing the father-daughter duo excited to be there and ready to compete.
The sun went down, it got cold, we went home, I was asleep before 8.
It was an off day and I kept the chap stick close. Fortunately my partner has been here before and was gracious enough to drive me out to Joshua Tree to see a National Park. I’m not sure what I was looking at but the photos were cool, the drive was good and the park was free because it was Veterans Day.
We found the visitor center on the way out to pick up stickers for our water bottles and on the way back we stopped to eat at 2 Guys Pie for yummy pizza and I had a beer from California. I’m not a big beer drinker but I had 2 over the last two days.
We went straight to the courts, passing an accident that fortunately didn’t hold us up too long. As we walked in they were finishing up their Veteran’s Day celebration, it sounded like maybe a group was singing the National Anthem and we saw the fighter jets off in the distance.
We went to find a court to practice but no luck. Everything was shut down. We stayed probably 2 hours and only saw 1 court that we maybe could get on but someone raced over to it before us.
I felt awful telling my Middletown friends courts were always available. Nothing was available and it likely was because pros were in town so courts were now for them, not the amateurs. Or they just wanted to turn off the lights, making 12 courts suddenly not an option.
We took photos with pros, I got one with Callie Smith. I get her newsletter and remembered the first time I saw her at a tournament in Atlanta. My first impression was that she’d never take a photo with a random girl from nowhere but she was super and seemed to be really happy I get her email newsletter.
I got a last minute idea to take photos of people’s water bottles. They are so decorated and seem to be a sense of pride for people. Even the referees do it. I have a long history of automatically not liking refs and I could write article upon article about why but I can say for certain that tournaments with refs for every game is amazing. It seems to keep things on schedule and sort of cuts down on the cheating. So I started taking photos of water bottles and asked one lady which sticker was her favorite. She was happy to tell me and told me a sad story of someone stealing her previous bottle that was decorated nicely. I gave her a POP sticker and then felt bad, she was on her way to play in a singles match! I doubt the sticker ended up on her bottle.
Once we were convinced we weren’t going to get a court we left, skipping dinner. Went to bed early but later than previous days.
The classic mid-day start. No idea when to eat, no idea when to show up, do we go somewhere and find a court to warm up, walk around the facility a bunch of times to get loose, sit in the sun or sit in the shade…it’s a list of what-to-dos that amateurs like me, who play in a tournament here and there, don’t know exactly how to address. I’m typically ok just doing the walk around to get loose and then using my actual warm up time to get ready to play but knowing what and when to eat for a 2:30 start I totally have not figured out.
We showed up at the courts 3.5 hours prior and I was a little surprised that the parking lot had cars back to the makeshift road. We managed to sneak on a couple of courts and hit some balls which was a relief to have a few shots under our belt.
It was sunny and warm so I tried to find shade. Within an hour I was hungry and wishing I had eaten something. I started snacking: banana, Goldfish, peanut butter crackers. I was quickly depleting my stash. I looked over at the Pickleball Central tent and saw the Middletown father-daughter duo practicing in their demo tent. Guilt poured over me as I assumed they didn’t find a place to play and decided to get a few hits wherever they could. Hopefully I was wrong and they were just testing paddles.
I had to use the bathroom multiple times prior which I considered a way to keep moving. We got the text that our bracket had started and it was prior to 2:30. Within a few minutes we had a court assigned and it was go time.
I looked in the stands and people from Middletown, Indiana and Columbus were watching. That didn’t add pressure for me but I came out hot, whacking the ball all over the place. It was super fun! But all the balls were going out and we weren’t winning points. We lost but I knew we could make adjustments and switch to the slow, controlled game. I just had to convince myself not to whack it. Most of my in-game thoughts are ‘be patient’ and ‘don’t whack it.’
The ref really struggled in 2 of our games, screwing up royally – to the point she had to ask a referee in the stands what she should do. Sadly, the referee she was asking was coaching our opponents. I don’t think the ref was doing anything intentional and I have no idea what she should have done but the delays were an unexpected distraction that we didn’t need being 1 loss down.
We managed to squeak out a win in game 2 and stayed right with them in the third game but they pulled ahead and grabbed the win. I only tagged 1 person with my wild shots but I made plenty more mistakes that left me frustrated.
I went to fill up my water bottle and leave that game behind and I got the text that our next game was ready to start. I headed over to that court and there’s not much I can say about that game. It will take a long time for me to forget just how bad it was. I’ve never wanted to drink after a game but all I could think was to get something to take off my anger edge. I floated around to two different stands for a Pickleball Rita and both places were out. I didn’t really want to drink beer but eventually I gave in and started to relax.
We sat with our friends at the Margaritaville bar that didn’t have margaritas, eventually deciding to grab a bite to eat at Bucatini. It was a fun time having a meal with friends and a nice wrap up to the day.
I couldn’t be happier that I qualified for Nationals and that I made the choice to come out to California and experience the tournament. I’m going back to Ohio knowing there is snow, knowing I don’t have play lined up for the winter and sad that I will go through another cold season disappointed that I don’t get as much play as I want. I have one tournament lined up in January that will hopefully be a good disruption for my winter blues and I’ll continue working on my game with my basement ball machine, gym workouts and tacking on hundreds of miles driving for solid competition in an effort to improve my play. And of course I’ll continue working on my People of Pickle website, sharing awesome stories of all the wonderful people who play this amazing game.
