Students 'Go All Out' For Pickleball

The last week of school can feel like an eternity for a high school senior. However, the annual pickleball tournament at Upper St. Clair High School kept school exciting for a number of seniors and about 500 other students and faculty members.

Pickleball is a popular game played in physical education classes at the high school. Many students also choose to play the game after school or during lunch hours.

"People give up their lunch to play," said David Dougherty, a freshman who played in the tournament. "When I first heard about pickleball, I was like I just have to play." 

Shawn Morton, a physical education teacher at the high school, said pickleball originated in someone's yard in Seattle and was named after Pickles, a dog who retrieved the stray balls.

"Pickleball is a great sport. It's a mixture of tennis and ping pong, but you don't have to be good at tennis to be good at it," said Patrick Jonnet, a sophomore who played in the tournament.

Because of the sport's popularity, Morton developed a tournament for the students. A boys doubles and a girls doubles tournament took place on Wednesday. On Thursday, there was a co-ed tournament.

"It gets really intense the closer you get to the finals," Morton said. "I haven't seen any bad sportsmanship today. In fact, I've seen a lot of good sportsmanship. A lot of shaking after games and a lot of smiling."

Competitors develop a strategy, and many plan coordinated outfits. Some players wore matching neon shirts. Other outfits spotted on Wednesday included headbands, male cutoff jean shorts and even a pair of boxer briefs worn over spandex.

"The seniors go all out with the outfits," said Laurel Steinberger, a senior who played in the tournament. 

Students paid $15 to enter the tournament. All the money benefited , which is a Dominican Republic outreach student club. The winners won t-shirts and — most importantly — bragging rights.

"We want to win," said Steinberger. 

"We've known about it for a long time and it's our last tournament. We like to go out with a bang," said Pam Chrissis, a senior who played in the tournament. "It's such an event and production."

Even though only one doubles team in each division was able to take home bragging rights, everyone still enjoyed the school spirit and camaraderie the tournament creates each year.

"It's so much fun to hang out with everyone," said Christine Simon, a senior who played in the tournament.

The following is the list of this year's winners:

Boys - Mike Mondelewski and Joel Klein 

Girls - Claudia Escribens and Megan Adamo 

Co-ed - Shane McMurtry and Hanna Wilhelm