Soybean Pickleball Palooza held as festival week continues in Martin
MARTIN, Tenn. — One high-energy tournament returned to West Tennessee just in time for Labor Day.
The 2nd Annual Tennssee Soybean Festival Pickleball Palooza took place early Labor Day.
Over at the UT Martin pickleball courts, men and women competed for first, second, and third place in the highly-competitive tournament.
“We’re very excited to have this,” said Barrett Belote, coordinator for the UTM Campus Recreation and Fitness facility. “This is a huge turnout of 129 people, which is almost 60 people from last year, which is amazing, very excited.”
The tournament features multiple divisions based off of skill levels, gender, and mixed doubles. The Pickleball Palooza is a way to connect all skill levels across multiple generations.
“So, at UT Martin, being active is like one of our things, Belote said. “That’s kind of what we do and why we do it, and going back to the ages, bringing people together, pickleball’s such a great sport because almost anybody can do it, whether how young or old. It doesn’t really matter, and it’s just a great way to mesh those two different types of people together.”
And the community came out to cheer on the competition. We spoke with several students who tell us more about the competitiveness and tournament fun.
“Competition was fun. We played one game. We won the first game, so we’re going to try to win the whole thing,” said Joey Meeks.
“I’ve been on a mission, traveling across the country trying to find someone that can beat me in pickleball, and I figured this is my next stop, see if anybody’s got it today,” said Hayden Yates.
Pickleball is a fast-paced, easy-to-learn sport, that is great for anyone interested in exercising.
The TN Soybean Festival is far from over. Click here for a schedule of events.
For more local news, click here.
