More than 100 students from all four high school in the Dysart Unified School District recently competed in the district’s first annual Pickleball Tournament at Valley Vista High School.

The tournament was arranged by local pickleball players in the community, including Norm Davis who is an ambassador for the USA Pickleball Association.

Students first learned the game in gym class, and found it quite easy to pick up. "We love playing the game because we are so competitive," Shadow Ridge student Julianne said.

Julianne and her teammate ending up taking first place in the tournament and earning the trophy for Shadow Ridge High School.  But more importantly she said she had a great time as younger and older generations came together to build a stronger community with such a fun activity.

The organizers of the event went out of their way to make this a great experience for students with trophies sponsored by Gigi LeMaster (a national pickleball champion and icon), t-shirts supplied by Neal Friedenberg from Pro-Lite Sports, Fran Myer supplied paddles, PickleballNow supplied balls, and the Surprise Pickleball Association provided goodie bags for all participants.

For information on the Surprise Pickleball Association, visit surprisepickleball.org.

Editor's Note: Zach Fountain is the Director of Communiations and Public Relations for the Dysart Unified School District