REACHING
FOR THE
GOLD
BY JUDY ARON
REACHING FOR THE GOLD
A PERSONAL STORY BY JUDY ARON
R
ecently my husband, Larry Lite, and I returned from
Surprise, Arizona, where I had entered the Happy Trails
Pickleball Tournament. Larry entered both the Happy Trails
and USAPA West Regional tournaments. As I do not consider
myself much of a tournament player, I only decided at the last
minute to play at Happy Trails, mixed doubles (if I could find a
partner). I looked at the “players needing partners” section of
registration and found Loren Nett. As soon as we decided to
play together I thought, “I hope I don’t let him down.”
Larry and I stayed at Sun City West with our gracious and
generous friends. I met Loren and we played together a few
times before the tournament. It seemed like we communicated
and played well with each other. But then again I wondered,
“Can I play well in the tournament?” The morning of the
tournament my nerves kept talking to my head saying, “Why
am I doing this to myself?”
Our bracket (65+, 4.0) had nine teams and started at 1:30
p.m., double elimination. One team I knew personally and
another Loren knew. Otherwise I had never seen any of the
others. The competition was excellent; the medal winners
could have been any of the teams. Loren and I had some very
close games but managed to stay in the winners bracket until
the gold-medal match. By then it was already dark and the
spectators were dressed in warm clothing and wrapped in
blankets. We lost the first match 2 out of 3. Then we played one
game to 15 for the gold. It was a struggle but we pulled it off,
and by 8:30 p.m. the match was over.
I have since reflected on several things about my play, our
play as a team and the tournament in general and have some
thoughts to pass on. I was told by several people who know me
that my play was the best they had ever seen from me. Several
“strangers” also complimented me during the rest of the week.
I wondered why I played so well. I believe that my mental focus
was very intense and, as a very good friend has said, I had my
“game face on.”
Several people said they stayed for the gold-medal match
because the play was so good (both teams) and entertaining.
52
Jim and Terry Saunders (silver), Judy Aron and Loren Nett (gold)
Jim