The inaugural Continental Pickleball League season kicked off with a bang on Sunday evening with 3 exciting matches between some of Continental’s finest married athletes.  The action was intense throughout the evening as friends battled for bragging rights in the spirit of fun.  Traditional USAPA (USA Pickleball Association) rules were used where games were played to 11 points (winning by 2) and matches won by securing 2 out of 3 games.

It was a family affair to kick off league action with the Winkle’s and Horstman’s dueling it out.  The Williams’ sisters (not to be confused with Venus & Serena) began the trash talk early in the league building phase and the results carried over to the court.  The Winkle’s came out all business in Game 1 and rattled off the first 5 points of the contest.  Despite a valiant effort by one half of Continental High Schools finest doubles team member, the lead proved insurmountable and the Winkle’s cruised to a 11-3 victory in Game 1.  Both teams seemed to gather traction, getting used to the playing conditions and crowd noise in a battle back and forth throughout Game 2.  In the end though, The Winkle’s just couldn’t be stopped and won 11-7 to secure the match sweep. 

The second match of the evening brought out the Donaldson’s filling in for a team forced to sit out due to a nagging injury, to face the Zimmerman’s hailing from the North side of town.  Game 1 saw the Donaldson’s use home court advantage to jump out to a quick lead en route to a 11-2 Game 1 win.  The Zimmerman’s though recovered nicely and adapted quickly in a back and forth Game 2 that ended with a Zimmerman win 11-8.  Game 3 was full of action with several lead changes and some younger members of the raucous crowd storming the playing area shouting for their mother.  After all the distractions, the Donaldson’s squeaked out a nail-biter 11-8 to take the match 2 games to 1.

The Main Event of the evening did not disappoint as the Schmidt’s and Wagner’s went head to head in prime time to the delight of hundreds (ok so it was like five, but hundreds should have seen it).  It surely did not disappoint.  The Schmidt’s came out hot, using their knowledge of the game (you better be good if you’re teaching our children, right?) and matching CHS Pirate gear to breeze through Game 1 with a score of 11-1.  It was at that point the Wagner’s decided it was time to go all out.  Sarah and Juice were diving all over the place making ridiculous shot after shot and the Schmidt’s displaying an equally impressive array of gamesmanship in a back and forth match that went the distance.  Game 2 ended up going the Wagner’s way with a 12-10 victory to force the deciding Game 3.  The final contest did not disappoint with teams leaving nothing on the court, except for maybe some skin, and even hitting shots from their knees.  With the Wagner’s up late and marching towards the “W”, the Schmidt’s made a furious comeback to take the Game and the match 11-9. 

Awesome action to close out Week 1.  Week 2 shows a full docket of games with 10 teams gearing up for 5 contests.  Can’t wait to see what happens next with Continental’s top sports league.