Pickleball players compete during the second Zion Lutheran School pickleball tournament Saturday at Gaiser Park.
Chey Smith | The Tribune
From left, Kyle Wieneke and Angie Wieneke prepared as Rich Steele served the ball during the second Zion Lutheran School pickleball tournament Saturday at Gaiser Park.
Chey Smith | The Tribune
From left, Roger Marling and Linda Nicholson on a team watched Linda Steele go for the ball during the second Zion Lutheran School pickleball tournament Saturday at Gaiser Park.
Chey Smith | The Tribune
From left, Roger Marling and Carol Luker played against Max Goecker and Angie Wieneke during the second Zion Lutheran School tournament Saturday at Gaiser Park.
Chey Smith | The Tribune
Donna Foster, left, getting ready to place the first place medal around Max Goecker’s neck after winning during the second Zion Lutheran School pickleball tournament Saturday at Gaiser Park.
Chey Smith | The Tribune
The top three from the first Zion Lutheran Church pickleball tournament from left, Brian Terrell in second place, Randy McCoy in first place and David Lemming in third place Saturday at Gaiser Park.
Submitted photo
The top three from the second Zion Lutheran School pickleball tournament from left, Linda Nicholson in second place, Max Goecker in first place and Carol Luker in third place Saturday at Gaiser Park.
Chey Smith | The Tribune
The top three from the third Zion Lutheran Church pickleball tournament from left, Randy McCoy in second place, David Lemming in first place and John Andrew in third place Saturday at Gaiser Park.
Submitted photo
The top three from the fourth and final Zion Lutheran Church pickleball tournament from left, Liz Davis in second place, Maddie Zola in first place and Matt Meyer in third place Saturday at Gaiser Park.
Submitted photo
Zion Lutheran School is raising money for a big goal — $100,000 to go into their playground, which needs renovating.
Donna Foster, director on the school’s board of Christian education, and John Andrew, who helped organize the event, figured that a fun way to do so would be with a pickleball tournament on Saturday at Gaiser Park. This is the first one the school has put on.
“It’s a good way to meet people in the park — good exercise,” Foster said.
The southside Seymour school provides education for children ages two through eight. Daycare services also are available for parents who need it.
Four tournaments were held back-to-back starting at 8 a.m. and concluding at 4 p.m. Saturday. Each participant paid $45 to play. After the tournament, scores were tallied and respective players were awarded first-, second- and third-place medals. Altogether, 45 people gathered to play for the playground, some of them participating twice.
To play, the game was set up so that everyone played with and against everyone else leaving no time to get too familiar with one partner or opponent.
Linda Nicholson of Lexington, who placed in second during the second tournament, was able to sympathize with the struggle of funding for a playground. As a special education teacher at Johnson Elementary School in Scott County, she recognizes the cost, since the school has updated their playground a few years ago.
Although not local, Nicholson comes to Seymour after school when she can to play pickleball. While those times are fun, she said Saturday felt different because of the cause behind the game.
“Usually, you just play to play,” Nicholson said.
Max Goecker, who won first place, and Carol Luker who came in third during the second tournament, both of Seymour, discussed their connections with pickleball.
Goecker said he didn’t have a deep history with the sport, having picked it up back in May. Luker helped him as he learned about pickleball, he said. While Goecker had the power, he said he was lacking Lucker’s finesse.
Luker has been playing for a few years since retirement and wants to come back next year for a potential second tournament.
The Zion Lutheran School’s pickleball tournament is expecting a comeback, but with only two courts at Gaiser, those involved in the tournament and pickleball enthusiasts are hoping to another two courts can be added beside the current ones that were installed in March 2022.
In October of the same year, there was talk about applying for a grant to build more courts, but there doesn’t seem to be any progress on that front.
Tournament sponsors included The Lutheran Scholarship Granting Organization, Bode Electric, JCBank, Kenny Glass, Westwind Sign, Garcia Family Dental, Schneider Plumbing, Heating & Air Conditioning and Foster Brothers. Walmart also donated water and granola bars for the players to enjoy on the hot day.
To learn about Zion Lutheran School and contribute to their playground mission, visit www.zionschoolseymour.org.