1st Annual
United Buckeye Firefighters' Charities
Pickleball Tournament Recap
November 8, 2023
First and foremost, THANK YOU for supporting the 1st Annual United Buckeye Charity event. Together we raised $10,000 dollars for the United Buckeye Firefighters Charity. Further, I cannot possibly estimate the number of hours donated by over 100 volunteers in and out of the club. I cannot thank enough those who so generously gave their time to support this event.
It was a very long day with the last event taking the brunt of the delays and being pushed back into the evening. I wanted to offer an explanation of the extenuating circumstances. Firstly, a week before the event, we changed the event start time from 8am to 9am to accommodate the firefighters' (FF) shifts. The day of the event, several FF teams arrived late, not at all, got injured, became available and wanted to play, or needed to leave early and required substitutions.
Under normal tournament conditions, these last-minute changes are not allowed and usually result in withdrawal. However, as tournament director and former volunteer firefighter, I opted to accommodate those teams in honor, respect and gratitude for the sacrifices they make every day for us. Some of us have experienced their service firsthand, even right here on our courts.
The firefighters were overwhelmed with the support, enthusiasm and generosity of our community. They thoroughly enjoyed the event not only for the money raised, but the extraordinary efforts made for their late entries, injured players, scratched entries and substitutions in and out, due to the nature of their demanding schedules. The vendors and sponsors felt similarly; they were excited to participate, and plan to return for future events.
Once again, thank you for your patience, understanding, and support. The challenges we experienced in balancing tournament play, charity fund raising and FF demanding schedules were so much worth the effort. We are already planning for a bigger and better event next year, and lessons learned from this year's event will help us mitigate/minimize delays.
Medal Winners
Firefighters Only
Gold-Scott Wood/John Gusich
Silver-Mark Andrade/Tony Konkowski
Bronze-Leah Gutierez/Joe Hoge
Ladies Only
Gold-Lynne Owen/ Cindy Olson (SCF)
Silver-Sandy Scheefer/Debbie Sengsavath (SCF)
Bronze-Beverly Ballesteros/Barbara Olesen (SCF)
3.0 Bracket
Gold-Alma Jakupi/Melissa (FF)
Silver-Tanner Bland/Stefanie Misulinch (FF)
Bronze-Michael Conrad/Curtis Bennet (SCF)
3.5 Bracket
Gold-Pat Schell/Pete Warne (SCF)
Silver-Scott Metcalf/Scott Moyer (FF/SCF)
Bronze-Sam Disdale/Joe James (FF)
4.0+ Bracket
Gold-Joe Pojman/Dan Krebs (SCF)
Silver-Mike Agostenelli/Andy Daniels (FF)
Bronze-Doug Gale/Rob Dryden (SCF)
It was a very long day with the last event taking the brunt of the delays and being pushed back into the evening. I wanted to offer an explanation of the extenuating circumstances. Firstly, a week before the event, we changed the event start time from 8am to 9am to accommodate the firefighters' (FF) shifts. The day of the event, several FF teams arrived late, not at all, got injured, became available and wanted to play, or needed to leave early and required substitutions.
Under normal tournament conditions, these last-minute changes are not allowed and usually result in withdrawal. However, as tournament director and former volunteer firefighter, I opted to accommodate those teams in honor, respect and gratitude for the sacrifices they make every day for us. Some of us have experienced their service firsthand, even right here on our courts.
The firefighters were overwhelmed with the support, enthusiasm and generosity of our community. They thoroughly enjoyed the event not only for the money raised, but the extraordinary efforts made for their late entries, injured players, scratched entries and substitutions in and out, due to the nature of their demanding schedules. The vendors and sponsors felt similarly; they were excited to participate, and plan to return for future events.
Once again, thank you for your patience, understanding, and support. The challenges we experienced in balancing tournament play, charity fund raising and FF demanding schedules were so much worth the effort. We are already planning for a bigger and better event next year, and lessons learned from this year's event will help us mitigate/minimize delays.
Medal Winners
Firefighters Only
Gold-Scott Wood/John Gusich
Silver-Mark Andrade/Tony Konkowski
Bronze-Leah Gutierez/Joe Hoge
Ladies Only
Gold-Lynne Owen/ Cindy Olson (SCF)
Silver-Sandy Scheefer/Debbie Sengsavath (SCF)
Bronze-Beverly Ballesteros/Barbara Olesen (SCF)
3.0 Bracket
Gold-Alma Jakupi/Melissa (FF)
Silver-Tanner Bland/Stefanie Misulinch (FF)
Bronze-Michael Conrad/Curtis Bennet (SCF)
3.5 Bracket
Gold-Pat Schell/Pete Warne (SCF)
Silver-Scott Metcalf/Scott Moyer (FF/SCF)
Bronze-Sam Disdale/Joe James (FF)
4.0+ Bracket
Gold-Joe Pojman/Dan Krebs (SCF)
Silver-Mike Agostenelli/Andy Daniels (FF)
Bronze-Doug Gale/Rob Dryden (SCF)
Video Courtesy of Al Gastellu
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Video & flickr Photos Courtesy of Marty Massari
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