MORGANTOWN — Two Morgantown residents traveled to Naples, Fla. to bring home gold.
Sarah Gnegy and her brother Justin Stephens won first place in the Pickleball U.S. Open mixed doubles tournament.
An open-house pickleball event was hosted May 20 at Mylan Park to showcase the pair of winners. Many from the community came to the event to learn about pickleball and see a match between the brother-sister duo and another team.
“It was a great time,” Gnegy said. “Pickleball is so awesome and there are so many good people playing, so we really enjoyed it. And we’re really excited to bring home a gold to Morgantown, West Virginia.”
Gnegy’s brother Stephens said, “It’s very very easy to learn. … For me, it’s an opportunity to spend time with family and friends and the social aspect of it is just great.”
The paddle sport, which can be played indoors or outside on a badminton-sized court and with a modified tennis net, combines elements of tennis, badminton and ping-pong. It can be played as doubles or singles.
Pickleball is a growing sport in the area. The future projection for the growth of the sport will include league play.
The group Morgantown Pickleball plans to offer tournaments and clinics soon and has members from Morgantown, Fairmont and Clarksburg.
Info: morgantownpickleball.com.
