STORY AND PHOTOS BY KAREN BOSSICK
Ketchum Mayor Neil Bradshaw loves to praise Wood River Valley pickleball players.
“This group connects people,” he told a crowd of 300 pickleball players at their summer pickleball picnic at Atkinsons Park. “That’s what you bring to Ketchum—connectedness and vibrancy. I love this group because it’s so welcoming. People come to town and they feel so welcomed by this group. And that says a lot about you—how you act, not just to friends but to visitors. It’s always great when we have pickleball on the council agenda because I know we’re going to get great attendance.”
The Wood River Valley Pickleball Association and those who are just plain curious about the game of pickleball will take it to a next extraordinary level Thursday through Sunday, Aug. 1-4, when 20 of the top senior pickleball players in the United States come to Sun Valley to play in the Legends Celebrity Weekend Pro Pickleball Invitational to benefit Men’s Second Chance Living.
Among those spectators can see are tennis greats John McEnroe, Mats Wilander, Vince Van Patten and Mikael Pernfors, who will be featured in a Legends game Sunday morning, in addition to other contests.
“This is a gathering of the top 20 senior pros in country coming together in Idaho to play a charity event. It’s a first of its kind and it’s going to be high-level competition,” said Lee Sponaugle, president of the Wood River Pickleball Alliance and one of the senior pros who will be competing.
Everyone is excited about John McEnroe, but all of the pros have interesting stories, in addition to being tops at their game, said Sponaugle, whose Wood River Pickleball Association is partnering with Men’s Second Chance Living on the event.
Paul Olin, for instance, is a former Top Gun fighter pilot who is a three-time National Champion as the No. 1 ranked senior pickleball player in 2019, 2020 and 2021. Mattias Johansson of Sweden is a 2022 Grand Slam winner and collegiate tennis coach who has been No. 1 in World Pickleball Senior Singles Pro for the past 105 weeks.
Brian Levine, is a former CEO at Goldman Sachs who went from the top of the finance world to CEO of Major League Pickleball. Rich Lopez, a 2023 NPL (Indy Drivers) champion, is a Top Senior Pro since 2019. And Richard Brown, a Sun Valley-area resident along with Sponaugle, worked for more than 40 years in oil and gas exploration before playing singles and doubles pickleball.
The pros are voluntarily coaching clinics on Thursday. And they’re welcoming spectators free of charge to three of the events.
The schedule:
THURSDAY, Aug. 1—Senior Pro Clinics at the Valley Club from 1-3 p.m. and 4-6 p.m. $150 Valley Club members and $200 non-members.
FRIDAY, Aug. 2—Senior Pro Team Event from 2-5 p.m. SPECTATORS WELCOME. Also, invitation-only Welcome Cocktail Party from 5:30-7:30 p.m. at a private residence.
SATURDAY, Aug. 3—MSCL 3rd Annual Pickleball Fundraiser from noon-4 p.m. Entry fee: $250. Also, Legends Dinner and Exhibition by Tennis Legends 6 p.m. at a private home. $400 per person.
SUNDAY, Aug. 4—Legends Round Robin Exhibition Play from 10-11 a.m. will feature bidders from Saturday night’s Legends Dinner playing with McEnroe, Pernfors, Van Patten and Wilander. SPECTATORS WELCOME.
Also, Senior Pro Team Event featuring senior pros battling with the legends at 11 a.m. SPECTATORS WELCOME.
Men’s Second Chance Living, the beneficiary of the weekend, helps men with addiction succeed in their recovery as they seek sustained sobriety. The organization, founded in 2018, opened its second sober house in Hailey in October 2022 and now offers services to up to 32 men a year, according to Executive Director Sonya Wilander.