PPA Challenger Series Pickleball Expansion: The Professional Pickleball Association (PPA) brought its Challenger Series to Gower Park in Chippewa Valley for the first time, drawing hundreds of players and fans throughout the weekend. The tournament, held as part of the PPA Challenger Series, aimed to help grow the sport by creating opportunities for both amateur and professional players to compete and connect.
The event marked the seventh stop of the year for the new PPA Challenger Series, which began in March and will hold a total of 14 tournaments in its first season.
Bringing Pickleball to New Places
The PPA Challenger Series was created to help expand pickleball’s reach beyond major cities. While the main PPA Tour visits large cities like Chicago, New York, and Los Angeles, the Challenger Series focuses on smaller communities.
“We want to grow the sport from the ground up,” said Jacob Guidry, PPA Challenger Series manager. “The PPA Tour goes to Chicago, New York, Los Angeles, all those major cities. We step in as the Challenger Series to go places where they might not be getting the opportunity for the main focal point, festival vibe, but they’re getting it on a micro level here with us.”
The goal is to attract new fans and players by holding family-friendly events. Guidry explained, “We’re getting people who come out to watch, to see this family-friendly event and they end up picking up a paddle and playing. That’s literally the goal of why we do this.”
A Mix of Amateurs and Professionals
Gower Park welcomed around 350 players, including 82 professional teams and eight senior professional teams. The event became the largest singles tournament in the series so far, and it was also the first to include a senior division.
“On the amateur side, we’re getting people that are mostly local driving maybe an hour or two to get here and play,” said Jacob Guidry. “They play here all the time, so the big draw is that the PPA is coming to the Eau Claire, Chippewa area and they get to watch signed pros who are seen playing on TV.”
The professional players also had a lot at stake. At the end of the season, four players will earn a contract with the PPA Tour.
“At the end of the season, four players will walk away with a PPA Tour contract,” Guidry said. “A few of them have played every single challenger, so they have literally been traveling with us, trying to make this into their career.”
Local Champions Shine
Among the winners were Chee Yang and Sitha Thor, who claimed gold in the Men’s Doubles Skills event on Saturday. Chee Yang, 43, is from Wisconsin Rapids, and Sitha Thor, 39, is from Appleton. They met through pickleball and are now in their second year of playing together.
Pickleball’s Growing Impact
With high energy, big smiles, and strong community spirit, the PPA Challenger Series stop at Gower Park showed just how much people love the game. The series is helping bring pickleball to more towns, where local players and fans can join in the fun and maybe even start a new chapter in their lives through the sport.
News in Brief: PPA Challenger Series Pickleball Expansion
The PPA Challenger Series visited Gower Park in Chippewa Valley for the first time, hosting 350 players and marking its biggest singles event yet. The tournament aims to grow pickleball by mixing amateur and professional play in smaller towns, with four pros set to earn PPA contracts this season.
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