The city of Sedona’s inaugural Red Rock Rally Pickleball Tournament, in collaboration with the pickleball management company Pickleball Is Great, will take place from Thursday, April 24, through Sunday, April 27, at the Posse Grounds Park pickleball courts.
The tournament will utilize a round robin format for doubles with different events for all ages in men’s, women’s and mixed doubles categories. Medals will be awarded to the first-, second- and third-place teams in every category.
“We have a very active pickleball playing community here, with locals and the people that come in and play,” Sedona Parks and Recreation Manager Josh Frewin said. “It has always been a dream of ‘we should do a pickleball tournament.’ But without having an actual pickleball complex, it wasn’t realistic.”
The city converted one of the Posse Grounds Park’s softball fields into eight pickleball courts in October at a cost of $1.6 million.
“People are excited about it and to be getting on the new courts,” Frewin said. “We’ve had great turnout on registration already, and registration is still open … I anticipate we’ll get pretty close to reaching our player capacity. Ideally it would be nice to be a little bit under it. If we have that 80 it will be a long day each of those days. But if we do, we’ll make it work.”
As of March 24, Frewin said that about 50% of that number had signed up.
“We have blocked out the [Sedona Posse Grounds] Hub as a rentable venue … so people are able to park in that lot and softball lot in addition to that pickleball lot that was added,” Frewin said.
Frewin said additional volunteers are not needed for the tournament and he anticipated having a referee for all matches, although lower-ranked games might be self-scored.
The tournament is free to watch and bleachers will be set up for spectators. Vendors will be selling pickleball gear and food trucks will be participating.
“People are excited because it’s something we haven’t had here in Sedona before, and the Sedona Pickleball Club has 48 emails on their list of people that come and play pickleball in Sedona. So it’s a huge group, and they’re excited to have formal competition,” Frewin said.
The cost of registration is $60 through the end of March, increasing to $70 for players who register after April 1. Registration closes on April 15. There is a $15 cancellation fee and no refunds will be given after April 1, although one of the parties’ tournament websites states that there can be “up to a 50% refund for weather-related cancellations.”
Tournament T-shirts are available for $17 when players register, or $25 at the courts during the tournament.
“People should sign up if you’ve played pickleball before and want to come test your skills against some other good competition or play with others your level,” Frewin said. “Come on out and have some fun … or if you don’t want to compete, just come and watch some experienced players. It should be a fun weekend.”
To register for the tournament, visit the Parks and Recreation website at sedonaaz.gov or call (928) 282-7098.
