Barriere and Simpcw First Nation welcomed home two local champions, Shelley Lampreau and Louise Lodge, who brought home gold medals from the Rally in the Valley pickleball tournament in Vernon over the weekend.
The tournament was hosted at the Vernon Pickleball Association arena in the National Bank Financial - Okanagan Wealth Advisors Pickleball Complex (OWA) noted as a 'world class facility' and considered to be a 'year-round' complex attracting players from across Canada.
The tournament ran from Sept. 27 to the 29 and hosted 275 players from around B.C. in a doubles round-robin tournament for skill levels 3.0 to 5.0 sanctioned by Pickleball Canada.
Local players, Shelley Lampreau and Louise Lodge played in the women's doubles on Sept. 28. Lodge spoke with the Star Journal the day after their gold medal win on Sept. 29 saying, "Shelley and I went into the tournament with a plan - have fun and never give up. We wanted to slow the game down and attack the opposition's weaknesses and that's what we did in the finals. We were down 9 to 2 and won 11 to 9."
Lampreau shared her excitement in a social media post on Sunday, saying, "We had a great day in Vernon. Came in second after the round robin. Played for gold/silver and pulled off a win in two sets! Thanks to Louise Lodge for being a supportive partner as we worked our way to a gold medal!"
If you are interested in learning more about pickleball in the North Thompson Valley you can find the Barriere Pickleball Club on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/groups/630437908244547/
