‘Rally in the Valley’ Pickleball tournament in Terre Haute

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (WTWO/WAWV) — A pickleball tournament brought hundreds to Terre Haute throughout the weekend.

Hundreds of thousands of dollars were spent renovating Brittlebank Park, and it served as a great host as pickleball continues to grow in popularity. Over 200 people registered for the event, and tournament organizer Jon Bradbury says it was a success.

“It’s been a great turnout here for the Rally in the Valley tournament,” he said. “It’s exceeding our expectations, players from all over have come to play here at Brittlebank Park in Terre Haute, Indiana and it’s been great weather, great people, great gathering.”

Among the festivities, former Indiana State tennis player David Satka stopped by, taking a break from his book tour. It is his first release, and the book is titled “Winning Pickleball”. The novel can be found at bookstores nationwide and online.

With large tournaments like this also comes sports tourism, something that mayor Brandon Sakbun says is a large economic driver for the community.

“Anytime you get a couple of hundred players to come to your community, of course with their families, it’s a positive,” he said. “We’ve got individuals registered in this tournament form as far as Florida and really across the United States we have people coming to Terre Haute to embrace Brittlebank Park and the pickleball courts that we have here.”

There will be another tournament at Brittlebank Park on July 13 to support the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation.

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