So what's playing pickleball at Fenway Park like? "Awesomeness"
Beth Atkinson remembers the exact day she picked up pickleball a little over seven years ago.
“June 30th, 2016.”
After playing in tournaments across the country, she now has another memory that will be seared into her mind.
Atkinson, who plays out of Ward Park in Marlborough, was one of nearly 2,000 amateur and professional players to compete at Fenway Park last week as part of the Pickle4 Ballpark Series.
With 12 back-to-back courts that stretched from foul line to foul line, the four-day tournament was the first played in a Major League ballpark. The appearance left Atkinson gushing nearly a week later.
“It was awesomeness,” she said on Tuesday. “I’ve been a Red Sox fan all my life – I love Fenway Park. I love pickleball. It was an expensive tournament ($200 per person), but I said to myself, ‘I pay a lot of money when I go to Fenway Park for a Red Sox game, and I like playing pickleball probably, maybe a tiny bit more than I like watching the Red Sox – especially this year – so I thought it was worth it.”
Atkinson, 60, teamed with Chris Coroniti, 31, to win a silver medal in the 4.5 level (1.0 is beginner; 5.5 or higher is considered elite) mixed doubles competition for ages 19-34 (teams compete in the age division of the youngest player).
Sudbury's McNamara part of championship duo
Sudbury’s Christine McNamara partnered with Lynn Kerr of Harvard to win the 3.5 56-59 women’s doubles title.
“The thrill of being down on the field in that whole environment was amazing and surreal,” said McNamara, who turns 60 in August. “Even if I didn’t get to play, just being able to walk on that field and see that whole venue set up for pickle that way was pretty exciting.
“I’ve been to Fenway Park probably 20 times, but this was a whole different way to see it in a different light.”
The event started on July 12 and was originally scheduled to last until the following Sunday, but rain wiped out the final day of competition. Warm temperatures and swirling winds near the Green Monster also played a role.
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“It was hot,” said Kerr, who plays at Quail Ridge in Acton and the new courts at Groton Country Club. “But they kept us hydrated. We’re used to playing outdoors in the heat and by the championships, it was pretty darned hot.”
Framingham’s Janice Aucoin teamed up with Natick’s Clint Berge and earned a silver medal on July 14 in the 4.0 mixed doubles 60-plus division.
“My experience was fabulous,” said Aucoin, who plays out of Life Time MetroWest athletic club in Framingham.
Berge had a different experience. Before partnering with Aucoin, he played on the opening day of the tournament and waited out several delays before seeing the court. Berge was forced to leave early later that evening to catch a train home. But by Friday, “It seemed to run a lot smoother.”
Berge, also a member of Life Time MetroWest, enjoyed his time in the ballpark.
“I grew up a Red Sox fan and I saw it as a good opportunity to see what it was like to be on the field and go through that experience,” he said. “I got there fairly early to get used to not be gawking all over the place.”
Trying to clear the Green Monster
Aucoin, who started playing pickleball during the pandemic in the backyard of a friend who lives in Wayland, attempted to hit a ball over the Green Monster.
”Clint said, ‘When are you going to have this opportunity again?’ He went to take a picture of me hitting it over and there was security all in front of me and I just hit one – I failed - and I looked at them, and I’m like, 'yeah, I’m going to be thrown out of here if I try it again.’ It was high up and I was right underneath the thing and it was windy ... I gave it a shot.”
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Atkinson, who lives in Townsend, remembers her pickleball pickup date so clearly because she had recently retired from a 30-year career as a fastpitch softball player. “When I stopped playing, I never thought I’d get that feeling again. I was totally focused; in the zone.”
In the seven ensuing years, Atkinson has played in pickleball tournaments in Indian Wells (California), Pittsburgh, Ft. Lauderdale, Albuquerque, Myrtle Beach and Hilton Head (South Carolina) and has a planned event in Utah in September.
“When I’m on that court, I’m smiling and laughing – everything else melts away. I’m in that zone again.”
Playing at the home of the Red Sox put her senses into overload.
“It wasn’t the biggest tournament I’ve played in or the most competitive, but it was all about playing at Fenway Park,” she said. “Being in the outfield and you’d be in between points and if something didn’t go well, or if I made a mistake, I’d just look up and go, ‘well, this is cool!’ And then all was right with the world.”
The Pickle4 Ballpark Series moves on to Oracle Park in San Francisco this weekend and Coors Field in Denver on Aug. 3-7. Fenway Park is likely to host the event in the future. If so, put McNamara’s name down on the lineup card.
“All in all, it was a really fantastic experience,” she said, “and I would definitely do it again.”
Tim Dumas is a multimedia journalist for the Daily News. He can be reached at tdumas@wickedlocal.com. Follow him on Twitter @TimDumas.
This article originally appeared on MetroWest Daily News: Pickleball at Fenway Park a popular hit with Pickle4 Ballpark Series
