12A Polk County Itemizer-Observer • June 24, 2015
Polk County Sports
ADULT RECREATION
Pickleball returns to Dallas for summer
Sport gaining popularity in Polk County, club attracting new players
By Lukas Eggen
The Itemizer-Observer
DALLAS — Richard Winn
has seen pickleball grow in
popularity in Dallas since he
teamed with the city’s recre-
ation department in 2013.
Now, he’s helping expand
the city’s offerings to those
looking to try the game, or
taking their pickleball game
to a new height.
Pickleball is open to peo-
ple of all ages each Monday,
Wednesday and Friday from
10 a.m. to noon at the Roger
Jordan Community Park ten-
nis courts. This year, the city
has more equipment to use.
“We have these portable
nets we received from a
grant from the USA Pickle-
ball Association (USAPA),”
Winn said. “These nets are
about $137 each and we
bought two of them. They’re
much better because last
year, we were using, like,
badminton nets and they
sagged and you could never
get them to be the right
height.”
Pickleball can be played
in singles or doubles. Similar
to tennis, opponents return
hits over a net and score a
point when an opponent
does not return a ball suc-
Give It A Try
What: Pickleball open
play and lessons.
Where: Roger Jordan
Community Park tennis
courts, Dallas.
When: Mondays,
Wednesdays and Fridays,
10 a.m. to noon.
For more information:
Dick Winn, 503-803-8065.
cessfully or the ball goes out
of play.
No previous athletic expe-
rience is needed.
“Some people come to us
having never played any-
thing,” Winn said. “It takes
them maybe six months and
they get really into it.”
The city also has equip-
ment, including paddles and
balls, for newcomers to use
while they learn the ins and
outs of the sport.
“Paddles can cost $45 to
$125,” Winn said. “If you
play one time and you don’t
like it, then what do you do?
We let people come use our
paddles and discover if this
is for them.”
Pickleball can be played
in singles or doubles. Winn
said they had about 18 peo-
ple playing on their first day
on June 15.
Since then, they’ve had
experienced players, new
players and everything in
between. Winn has already
had an experienced tourna-
ment player give tips, while
other locals have traveled to
tournaments to compete or
watch more skilled players.
“We just want people to
show up,” Winn said. “Walk
through the gate. We give
them lessons if they need it
and have some fun.”
For players who take a lik-
ing to the sport, Winn said
they have formed a Dallas
pickleball club, with dues of
$10 for a couple annually.
The dues help pay for more
equipment for people to use,
including balls, two more
nets and paddles. A tennis
court can accommodate four
pickleball courts, Winn said
and the club would like to, at
some point, have enough
nets to have multiple games
playing on both courts.
Pickleball will run
through Sept. 25, and Winn
hopes this summer attracts
even more new players in
the area.
“The game is growing by
leaps and bounds,” Winn
said. “This is an easy way for
people to learn and try out
something new.”
LUKAS EGGEN/Itemizer-Observer
Pickleball has attracted a mix of experienced and new players.
City adult rec looks to diversify Dugan: He will
Dallas considers bringing running events to the city
By Lukas Eggen
The Itemizer-Observer
DALLAS — It seems like a
distant memory for Dallas
Recreation Coordinator
David Brautigam.
Yet, it was just four years
ago that Dallas didn’t have
any adult recreation to
speak of.
Oh, how things have
changed.
Men’s basketball and co-
ed softball recently kicked
off their seasons, and both
have seen all-time highs in
participation.
“Co-ed softball went from
10 to 14 teams this year,”
Brautigam said. “Men’s bas-
ketball has increased to 12
teams (from 10) and has
doubled the amount of
teams when it first started.”
The city also offers co-ed
volleyball, pickleball and
more throughout the year.
“It’s a balancing act of not
spreading ourselves too
thin,” Brautigam said.
“That’s been my focus is to
establish it and make sure
it’s running properly and we
get participation. Then, we
can start looking at other
things that people want to
see.”
Now, the city is doing just
that. Dallas will hold its
first-ever tennis tourna-
ment Aug. 8-9. A corn
hole/bean bag toss tourna-
ment will be one of the fes-
tivities during Summerfest,
and dodgeball and kickball
tournaments are also in the
works.
“A lot of people want
these kinds of programs,”
Brautigam said. “There are a
lot of little things we want to
do to fill in the gaps. I think
we’re trying to capture a
large variety of people in a
large variety of sports.”
Brautigam also hopes to
have a Halloween fun run
this fall and hopes to bring
more running events to the
city in the future, as well as
looking into starting a
weekly walking club.
“We have people going
out of town to go to run-
ning events,” Brautigam
said. “We can do a lot of
those running events here.
We’ve formed a committee
to start looking at next
summer to have those
kinds of events.”
This fall will also see the
start of intramural sports for
ages 12 to 18.
Plans to expand offerings
is a result of feedback and
increasing participation
numbers among both kids
and adults as Dallas’ recre-
ation programs grow at
rates exceeding Brautigam’s
expectations.
But the number of partic-
ipants is a secondary con-
cern. The main thing is that
there continues to be a de-
sire for adult recreation pro-
grams, and that the city is
there to help meet those de-
sires.
“As long as the interest in-
serve two roles
Continued from Page 10A
His key to success is hav-
ing a family that under-
stands his position and sup-
ports him.
“Everyone is on the same
page,” Dugan said. “My wife
has been very supportive.
She understands what my
roles are, and she married
into that. My son will be at
Perrydale and he’s excited to
go to the games and see the
older students.”
Among Dugan’s first du-
ties will be to help shepherd
Perrydale’s move back down
to Class 1A starting this fall.
“I think that 1A is a good
fit for us,” Dugan said. “The
kids have been really com-
petitive at this level. We’ve
had teams compete for
state, and I think that’s
going to happen some
more.”
As Dugan prepares for his
new roles at Perrydale, he’s
ready to take on what will be
a busy, but fulfilling sched-
ule, he said.
“This is the place I love,”
Dugan said. “I’ve been
around here for almost two
decades. I’m excited about
this year.”
SCOREBOARD
CLUB GOLF
CROSS CREEK GOLF
COURSE
MEN’S CLUB
Tuesday, June 16 Results
LUKAS EGGEN/Itemizer-Observer
Jake Bailey looks to drive to the hoop during a men’s
basketball game on Monday night.
creases, that’s the direction
we want to go,” Brautigam
said. “Whether that is 100
teams or 50 teams, as long
as kids and adults are par-
ticipating, that’s our mis-
sion.”
As Dallas looks to contin-
ue to diversify its offerings
for both adults and children
going forward, Perhaps
most importantly, he’s see-
ing more and more people
taking part in living a
healthier lifestyle.
“It’s an opportunity to
serve people and keep our
c o m m u n i t y a c t i v e,”
Brautigam said. “That’s real-
ly what we want to do.”
Two-Man Best Ball
Gross — 1 (tie), Bob Mason-Roy
Shupe, Bill Karjala-Michael Willem and
Dan Spell-Paul Disney, 37.
Net — 1, Jack Duncan-Lee Taylor,
26; 2, David Karr- Dennis Bergman, 29; 3
(tie), Darrel Smedstad-Bob Sprinkle, Jeff
Lorenz-Bob McCleery and Ken Woods-
Ken Ross, 32.
SPORTS BRIEFS
Local girls soccer team places first
BEAVERTON — A girls soccer team from Dallas finished first in
the 3v3 soccer tournament on June 13 at the Beaverton Soccer
Club Complex. Dallas went undefeated and won by 10 or more
goals in each of their games.
The win qualifies them for a national tournament in Orlando.
The squad may try and raise funds for the trip, or will compete in a
tournament in Vancouver at the end of July.
The team includes Neesa Olson, Jesi Agee, Ivy Agee, Nicolette
Sossie and Addy Mendez.
To view a team photo, visit www.polkio.com.
Train: Time to rest up and stay hydrated
Continued from Page 10A
7. Just glad to be done:
Upon finishing the bike ride,
my legs didn’t feel like they
could walk, let alone go for a
run.
8. Return of optimism (or
delusions): After sitting for a
few moments while heading
home, the thought creeps in
… that wasn’t so bad. Let’s
do this!
Now, all the blood, sweat
and tears have led to this.
The triathlon is Saturday at 9
a.m. (a change from its orig-
inally scheduled start time
of 10 a.m. due to predicted
hot temperatures on race
day). But your final prepara-
tion must begin now.
For starters, make sure to
stay well-hydrated, organiz-
er Brian Joynt said. Tragical-
ly, that means it’d be best to
avoid a pre-triathlon cele-
JOLENE GUZMAN/Itemizer-Observer
Lukas Eggen and Emily Mentzer before their 500-yard
swim and 15.5-mile bike ride last week.
bration involving adult bev-
erages.
“In the days leading up to
your event, putting a lot of
fluids in your body is impor-
tant, especially with the
warmer temperatures ex-
pected,” Joynt said.
Then, there’s the night-
before meal. As a high
school cross-country run-
ner, that was my favorite
meal.
Loading up on carbohy-
drates meant anything on
my plate that looked edible
was going to be devoured.
Carb-loading is important
— but be smart about it,
Joynt said.
“Don’t do anything you
haven’t done before,” Joynt
said. “Don’t eat a big pasta
dinner if you’re not usually
eating pasta. Don’t eat any-
thing spicy if it might upset
your stomach because noth-
ing is worse than an upset
stomach during a triathlon.”
And, when Saturday rolls
around, don’t forget to eat
something small about one
hour prior to race time.
Finally, no more strenu-
ous activities — something I
can excel in!
“You’ve done your train-
ing,” Joynt said. “Don’t
stress out about it and try
and do a heavy workout at
the last second. You want
to keep your legs fresh.
Maybe go for a light, slow
jog to keep them loose, but
no more 15-mile bike rides
or hard runs.”
Once Saturday hits, Joynt
recommends getting there
an hour early to set up your
bike, change of clothes, etc.,
and suggests having one
bottle of water and one
sports drink for the race.
There will be water avail-
able at the turn around
point of the running por-
tion.
Headed into the final days
before my first triathlon, one
thing is clear to me — eight
weeks goes by fast! I have no
idea how I’m going to fare,
but I’ll go on record with the
time I’m shooting for: 2
hours, 5 minutes and 35.44
seconds.
It’s time to put up or shut
up as they say.
Training for this triathlon
hasn’t been easy, but it has
been fun.
Part of me still imagines a
triumphant finish, one with
a strong sprint to the end.
More realistically, if I’m still
standing at the finish line,
that would be a plus.
As difficult as it may be,
I’m starting to see the appeal
of these events. And a part of
me yearns to do another
one.
But first, let’s just see how
I feel Saturday afternoon.