Ken Sawer and Kathleen Fors recently earned a trip to Nationals by winning a Golden Ticket tournament in Colorado Springs.
FEATURE
Competitive Drive Keeps Couple Thriving on Court
Ken Sawer and Kathleen Fors recently earned a trip to Nationals by winning a Golden Ticket tournament in Colorado Springs.
By JEN MULSON
If there’ s something to compete for, chances are Ken Sawer and Kathleen Fors of Carbondale, Colorado, are willing to give it a try.
Sawer, 80, is a former high school tennis coach, teacher and ski instructor. Fors, 77, is a life coach. Together they’ ve spent the last four years learning to play pickleball, earning wins and trying to tolerate losses whenever they step on a court.
“ Our strength is we’ re both competitive and habitual learners,” Sawer said.“ I’ m a coach by nature and she’ s a coach by nature. So, we have our ups and downs like any husband and wife, but we’ re on the same page also.”
July 12 at the USA Pickleball Golden Ticket tournament in Colorado Springs was one of those days when mental fortitude comes in handy.
Fors competed in the final of her singles division against a woman more than a decade younger. She covered the court well and hit impressive shots, but she trailed midway through the match.
“ That’ s OK, Kathleen,” Sawer called out to his wife from the sidelines.“ That’ s the way you want to be.” During a time-out he beelined over to coach her.“ She’ s a life coach and we know all the pitfalls. When I went over, I said,‘ You’ re getting beat but you’ re having good points.’ A competitor has to learn how to lose, and in life you have to learn how to lose.”
Sawer also tried to throw out ideas that might help change the course of the match, like changing her technique, playing high balls or low balls, or getting to the net more, but sometimes none of it works.
“ She said,‘ I’ m just going to keep grinding away, keep getting the ball back and see what happens,’” Sawer recalled.“ And that’ s all you can do. At a tournament level, everyone you play is competitive. They’ re all tournamenttough. And sometimes you’ re just trying to hang in there. That’ s life.”
As Fors walked off the court, sporting a loss, Sawer consoled her.“ You had some good rallies,” he said. She took it all in stride.“ I feel pretty good because I don’ t play that much singles and she’ s a lot younger,” Fors explained.“ In the Olympics and golf and tennis, the pros all have people who help them with their mind game. I am very good at it. Kenny is a good athlete, but I have a lot of tenacity on the court and that is from my own work on myself for high performance.”
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