TUSTIN
WINTER
CLASSIC
JANUARY 13-15, 2018
T
he Tustin
Classic is quickly
becoming one
of the premier
tournament
destinations
for West Coast
pickleballers. This year, top-ranked
players such as Morgan Evans, Scott
Moore and Lisa Naumu competed
for the LA-area title. The story of the
tournament is not just about who
played, but rather the story behind
the event.
The tournament is directed by
Phil Dunmeyer—the “Godfather” of
California pickleball. Phil, along with
CinDi Glavas and Pete Burns, were
longtime employees of the Tustin
Unified School District. On the
school grounds sat two rarely used
tennis courts.
CinDi recalls, “Phil scheduled a
meeting with the school officials and
requested they convert the tennis
46
courts to pickleball. After meetings
and proposals, the board agreed
and we were in business. Next, Phil
raised additional revenue to add
more courts, bringing the total to
eight. Today, our site is a local haven
that seems to be booked all the
time.”
The Tustin Classic is a special
event where many of the 50
volunteers help from 6 a.m. to 5
p.m. for three consecutive days. The
event is unique because every match
has a referee as well as a scoreboard
operator. The real-time scorekeepers
kept hundreds of spectators aware
of all developments so they could
wander to the “hot action” courts.
The tournament also featured the
use of two different balls selected
by the players months prior to the
event: The softer Onix Pure 2 was
used for the 3.0 to 4.0 players and
the harder Onix 503 for the 4.5 to
Pro players.
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The Tustin Classic is another
example of how the innovative
leadership and hard work of a
committed team of volunteers can
turn a couple of old tennis courts into
a flourishing pickleball hotspot. •