History

The Evolution of the Lake Chelan Pickleball Club

In 2015 there were a few women who started playing pickleball at the lookout. These ladies were instrumental in taping the town tennis courts at Don Morse park and the high school tennis courts for pickleball. Soon this activity encouraged others, including tourists, to join into the play group. Soon they were playing everyday of the week with an average turnout of 25-30 players and growing rapidly. The wait times to get in a game became increasingly long. This is when Marilyn Raines and Darnells stepped up and created 6 pickleball courts for the community to gather and play. The beginning of Chelan Valley Pickleball and the social committee were formed.
As of 2022 we now have 123 active members in the pickleball club with many many more in the community who also regularly play. As of the spring of 2023, Lake Chelan Pickleball Club is officially a USAPA member with an official board of directors.

Year by year timeline of where we played

  • 2015 – 4 women (Sue Chappell, Kathy Teigen, Jan Reese, Wendy Ross) started playing pickleball at The Lookout. We started to play in early spring a couple of times week and then were asked to limit our play as the courts are reserved for the owners.
  • Spring 2016 – 4-5 women met with Mayor Mike Cooney to ask if volunteers could apply pickleball court tape to the existing tennis courts. Mike agreed to let the taping happen. Pickleball saw an increase in players as many vacationers at the campground joined in.
  • Winter 2016 – court time at the Community Gym was reserved – pickleball continued to grow –had 15-30 players on Sunday mornings.
  • Spring 2017 – Chelan Parks and Rec budget was approved to have the 2 tennis courts resurfaced and permanent pickleball lines applied at Don Morse Park.
    At the same time, The Pickleball Group contacted the Chelan School District and asked if the tennis courts at the high school could have permanent pickleball court lines. The contractor was re-surfacing the courts at Don Morse Park, and it was the perfect opportunity to add lines to the high school courts if the Chelan Pickleball Club paid the for work. The district agreed, money was raised, and the courts now have pickleball lines which gave us three more courts with lights so we can play in the evenings. (Can only play there after school hours and summer months)
  • Spring 2017 to 2019 – Organized play was set for five days a week. Average turnout was 25-30 during morning play during non-tourist months. With the busy tourist months, the number of players increased significantly. More players make long wait time between games at Don Morse Park and the Chelan High School tennis courts.
    Marilyn Raines was part of the original group who played on a regular basis. She was dismayed at the long wait times and decided to re-configure the tennis courts at Darnell’s Resort into 6 pickleball courts.
    A Chelan Valley Pickleball Group Logo was created, and 50 t-shirts were sold for the first of many fundraisers. Email distribution lists were created, and the club has a Facebook page with play days, times and location. A Social Committee was formed and organized monthly potlucks and year end club celebrations.
  • 2019 – to Current: Darnell’s Resort is now the home of the club which now has 110+ members and 277 followers on Facebook. The club has organized clinics, tournaments and has organized play six days a week.
  • Winter 2022 – played in apple sheds.  This was organized by Mark Milner from Omak.
  • Winter 2023 – played at North Shore Church – Cost $5 per person per session

How the membership has grown over the years

BEFORE we started playing at Darnell’s – We hung laminated signs with the play days and times on the courts at Don Morse and at Chelan High School. It worked great for the limited amount of players we had. 5-15 players.

  • Spring of 2016 – started playing at Don Morse as the city gave us the approval to apply pball court tape. 15 – 30 players
  • Summer of 2017 – average 25 players per day and played 5 times a week (didnt track tourists)
  • Winter of 2017 – 30 regular players at the Community Gym on Sunday mornings
  • Spring 2018 – city resurfaced Don Morse and we got approval from the school district to have the high school courts lined. (donations from players covered the cost of court lines and balls)
  • Winter 2018 – played at the high school gym on Sunday mornings.
  • June 2019 – email list consisted of 85 players – “Club” was formed.
  • 2020 – member count 44 and the season fee charged at Darnell’s $80
  • 2021 – member count 75 and the season fee charged at Darnell’s $100
  • 2022 – member count 123 and the season fee charged at Darnell’s $200 (annual club membership $20)