Would you rather go to a homecoming dance after the homecoming game or go to a pickleball tournament? Traditionally, most high schools host a homecoming dance after the big game. Well, this year at Lewis Cass High School, the student council hosted our first-ever pickleball tournament instead of a homecoming dance. The idea originated from the homecoming king himself, senior Harrison Clark. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the game of pickleball, it is similar to tennis. Some commonalities include: both are racket sports, played on a rectangular court with a net, and require players to hit a ball back and forth to score points. There are some differences, which include that a pickleball court is smaller than a tennis court, players use paddles instead of stringed rackets, and there are different types of serves in each game. 

     When asked if Clark enjoyed the pickleball tournament more than the dance, he responded, “Yes, because I enjoy playing pickleball.” Many people who played in the tournament enjoyed it as well. Sophomore, Shaelynn Dishner, attended the tournament and had a very similar response, “Yes, I did like having a pickleball tournament instead of a homecoming dance because I felt that we had more fun at pickleball than we would have had at a dance.” When asked if the tournament was successful, Harrison said, ¨Yeah, it was John Chicken (it went well).” 

      In order to compete in the tournament, players were required to have a partner. One team that competed in the tournament was team Chocolate and Vanilla, made up of junior Ben Jay and foreign exchange student Roberts Tale. Another team, B&K, was made up of fellow sophomores, Kiley Silcox and Brayden Davidison.  Personally,  my partner was the – Shaelynn Dishner. When asked her favorite part about being my partner, Shae answered, “I enjoyed most being the – Hayden Tocco’s partner was the handshakes that we made up and just having fun.” The winning pickleball duo was Lewis Cass boys tennis players, Liam Ellington and Jayden Ramer. When asked about Liam’s favorite part of winning the tournament, he responded, “My favorite part about winning the pickleball tournament was getting candy and being on the announcements.” When asked if he thought being on the tennis team gave him an advantage, Liam stated,  “No, I do not think that playing tennis helped me win the tournament.” (Personally, I believe playing tennis would be a huge advantage in winning a pickleball tournament!)

      Did you miss all the Hoco dresses, pictures, and drama? Or did you enjoy the laid-back hangout vibe of the pickleball tournament? The traditional homecoming dance may be getting booted out for the new trend, a pickleball tournament.  The inaugural pickleball tournament at Lewis Cass was an overall success! Many enjoyed it and loved spending time with their friends after the last-second win against the Manchester Squires. Has the class of ´26 started a new homecoming trend? Who knows? Will you be attending the next pickleball tournament or the homecoming dance next year?