From Greensboro, NC to Cranberry Twp, PA... 2 Golds, 1 Golden Ticket and a Silver in one week!

The last time I wrote, Brooke was headed to North Carolina to play in the 2025 USA Pickleball: Greensboro, NC National Qualifier, Mixed Doubles with partner Jose Ale La Vecchio. Although I didn't get to go, I watched the live streams from the comfort of home. Brooke and Jose went undefeated in pool play and made their way to the Gold/Silver match in Mixed Doubles 5.0 combined (19+,30+,40+,50+ age) by winning the semi-final match 15-9. In the Gold match, they fell short to a couple youngsters, and won Silver overall, but received a GOLD in their age division and a Golden ticket to Nationals which will be held this year in San Deigo, CA

Congrats to Brooke & Jose on your Gold and Golden Ticket to Nationals!

Brooke left NC and drove all day landing home in Pine City around 10:30PM. Brooke recouped from her long day and had three more days of training until her next match of Women's Doubles 5.0 (50-54) at CTPA's Mid-Atlantic Regional Championships.

Brooke was slated to play her first tournament with Roberta Russo, a local legend. To say Brooke was excited to finally play with Berta was an understatement! Thursday morning rolled around, and Brooke and Berta chipped away at the competition being the top seed with a 6-0 after round robin play. Their scores were 12-10, 11-6, 11-6, 11-2, 11-0 & 11-2 only allowing 26 points over those matches. Brooke and Berta won in the Semi-finals with a score of 15-3. With a huge audience, they won in 2 games in the Gold match 11-8, 11-1 to take home the Women's Double's 5.0 (50-54) GOLD! It was amazing to watch these two ladies play together, to say the least. Anyone who came to watch, sure got their money's worth!

Congrats to Brooke & Berta on an awesome win at this year's CTPA's Mid-Atlantic Regional Championship!

Brooke got Friday off but was slated to play in the Moneyball Mixed Doubles on Saturday, which was open age at CTPA's Mid-Atlantic Regional Championship. Brooke's partner for this match was Mike Hamberg. Brooke and Mike started round robin play and by the end had a 3-way tie, with a 5-1 ranking that went to points. Brooke and Mike were seated 3rd with scores of 11-4, 11-1, 11-7, 7-11, 11-9, & 11-4. In the quarter-finals they won 15-7, sending them to play against the only team they lost to, in the semi's. They were able to pull out a huge win in the semi-finals, with a score of 15-11 which sent them to the Gold match.

In the gold match they had a huge audience and battled out every point. This match went 3 games and is everything a spectator wants to see in the final match! Brooke and Mike brought the 3rd game to 10-10 but eventually lost 10-12. Those games went 1-11, 11-8, 10-12 with Brooke and Mike taking home SILVER and a pocket full of cash! Not too shabby considering many of the competitors in this bracket were more than half of Brooke's age! I'm super proud of Brooke and Mike for putting on such a great show and it could have gone in either direction!

I'm one proud husband of what Brooke was able to accomplish this week. I got to watch the highest level of pickleball play and see her bring home 2 of her 3 medals this week! She continues to amaze me in everything she does, when an Engage paddle is in her hands. She played all these tournaments with Engage's new line, Pursuit Pro1 6.0! Thanks again, to Engage for making such great paddles that put her at the top of her game.

Next stop is Beer City in Grand Rapids. MI!