Tellico Village resident Jean Haupt, along with her doubles partner from Rarity Bay, Joan Allaben, traveled to Casa Grande, Ariz., in early November to take part in the USA Pickleball Association Nationals.
The duo dropped their opening match in the tournament, but rallied to claim a national championship in the 75+ women’s doubles division.
“I hadn’t played ... a tournament like this with her before, and we’re both pretty slow starters,” Haupt said. “So when you lose the first game you just go into the next game knowing if you’re going to survive and keep going on you’re going to have to keep winning, and we did that.”
The pair didn’t let the stress of must-win situations get to them.
“I don’t get stressed,” Allaben said. “Probably because I play for — it’s nice to win a medal, but I play for the fun of it because I like the people. It makes it tougher, but it also makes it more interesting. We went into the competition very relaxed because we didn’t expect to do that much. We kind of went just for the experience.
“It’s probably the biggest and best tournament in pickleball,” she added. “We just thought it would be fun to go out there. There’s 900 people and there’s 32 courts, so there’s a lot going on. We just went to experience it and have a good time. So I think we were very relaxed to begin with and we just kept playing pretty well.”
The longer the team played in the tournament and the closer they got to winning the title, the excitement began to build, Haupt said.
“It was pretty interesting because there’s a lot of people watching,” she said. “I’ve never had all these people watching before, but when you’re playing you don’t really notice everyone that’s there.”
Going in without high expectations added to the excitement of winning.
“I think it really did. It was just kind of neat,” Allaben said. “Many of the teams are from California, Washington state, Arizona and Florida. They’re used to playing outside all the time. They play outdoors most of the time, whereas we’re half and half. That was another thing, and to go up against the best teams in the country and come out with a medal was pretty exciting for both of us.
“... I don’t usually get very excited one way or another, losing or winning, but I was pretty excited,” she added. “Especially when you get to be 75 it’s pretty unexpected. Any athlete, no matter how old you are, you want to play as well as you can play. We were fortunate that both of us played really well that day.”
For Haupt, competing well against the high caliber of players in the tournament was a good experience.
“Playing with teams that have experience and are pretty high-ranked players, and coming out on top, of course, would be it,” she said. “Just knowing you’re able to compete against that caliber of player is exciting.”
The duo will compete on a national stage again as part of the 2017 Senior Olympics.
“The most interesting thing about playing tournaments is you get to meet and you also get to know (people),” Allaben said. “… That’s one of the best things. For the most part, pickleball as a rule, especially our age, are just out there for the fun of it. So it’s pretty nice and you have a really good time.”
Allaben also won a gold medal with mixed doubles partner Bud McRee.
“That was a lot of fun also because we know a lot of the teams we also played against,” Allaben said. “... Both he and Jean have played a lot longer, so I’ve learned a lot from both of my partners.”
