Pickleball Magazine 2-2 Courtesy of PickleballTournaments.com | Page 62

FROM THE USAPA
THE USAPA
Great Plains Region
T
he USAPA Great Plains Region
The largest city, Wichita, offers 15
is home to some of the most
places to play with must-see sites to
magnificent scenery in the United
visit including the Museum of World
States and a fair number of pickleball
Treasures and the Space Museum
facilities, too!
Cosmosphere with the Russian
This region covers a broad
Vostak and Apollo 13. Kansas City
geographical area and is also the
is a second center for pickleball with
smallest region in terms of population.
many places to play and the American
Ramona and Steve Boone are
The states are Colorado, Kansas,
Jazz Museum and the Nelson Atkins
Co‑ Directors for the USAPA Great
Plains Region
Montana, North and South Dakota,
Museum of Arts as highlights for the
Wyoming and two Canadian provinces:
pickleball traveler.
They began to play pickleball
Manitoba and Saskatchewan, all
Pickleball Nebraska is growing fast
in 2003 after a visit to Colorado
reflected in the Regional Tournament
with over 600 players and 22 places to
Springs from Keith Bissel, USAPA
logo.
play. According to Bill Holt, Nebraska
Ambassador at Large. Playing
Farther north, the Region
District Ambassador, Omaha hosted
for years on tennis courts, they
includes the Canadian Provinces of
the first-ever National State Games
worked with a group of friends
Saskatchewan and Manitoba, with
of America Pickleball Tournament in
in 2010 to form the Pikes Peak
District Ambassadors Bradley Bell and
July, 2015. Holt ran a tremendously
Pickleball Club, a 501(c)(3), to raise
Doug Cable, respectively.
successful USAPA-sanctioned event
money help the City of Colorado
The population of Saskatchewan
enjoyed by players from across the
Springs build 15 permanent courts.
is one million plus with an area of
country. Kearney has been hosting
Today those courts hold the USAPA
250 million square miles. Regina, the
the Senior Games since 2011 with
Great Plains Regional Tournament.
Provincial capital, houses the Royal
the Cornhusker State Games held in
Avid players, they are the current
Saskatchewan Museum which is the
Omaha. Omaha highlights include the
National State Games champions
natural history of the First Nations
Henry Doorly Zoo and the Museum
in their age bracket.
peoples.
of the Lewis and Clark National Trail.
A quick tour around the region
Lincoln, the capital, boasts the Sunken
begins in the “Corn Belt” states of Kansas and Nebraska.
Gardens and the Sheldon Museum of Art.
Kansas, with a population of 3 million, actually comes in
Heading north to the Dakotas... in South Dakota the
at second place in the region for active players and places
District Ambassador is Denny Finke. Denny worked with
to play, thanks to the District Ambassador, Eldonna Coats.
the Sioux Falls Park Department to get an additional six
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