Ann Crouser and Vivian
Oko are among the best
pickleball players in Canada
after winning gold in the
Women’s Doubles 70-plus
category at the Canada 55-
plus Games Aug. 21-24 in
Saint John, N.B.
“We got to meet some new
people from other provinces.
It was great,” said Crouser.
“It felt great to win, too.”
Aside from the gold, Oko
said the tournament provided
a great chance to see
a part of Canada she had
never been to before.
“We also went to Prince
Edward Island, so it was a
good chance to travel,” she
said. “It was a lot of fun.”
However, they weren’t
done with pickleball. Not
even two weeks later they
were hitting the courts in
Edmonton at the Alberta
55-plus fall games Sept. 7-9,
joined by 11 of their neighbours.
Alberta Senior Citizens
Sport & Recreation Association
Zone 5 president George
Oko, who ran the pickleball
portion of the games, said
every Westlock resident that
went to play in the Alberta
55-plus games collected
hardware, bringing home
three golds, three silvers and
three bronze medals.
Vivian Oko and Crouser
repeated their earlier success,
netting a gold in the
women’s 70-plus event. Oko
also teamed up with Dave
Kallal to acquire gold in the
mixed 65-plus and Crouser
added to her gold collection
alongside Dennis Bichel by
taking on all comers in the
mixed 70-plus.
“It was the first tournament
I played in, so I was a
little nervous to start with,”
said Bichel, who added he
definitely has caught the
bug. “But after I got playing,
I really enjoyed it. It’s great
exercise and you meet a lot
of people.”
Mira Fenton and JoAnne
Maurier earned silver in
the women’s 65-plus, Dale
Kruhlak collected silver in
the men’s 55-plus category
alongside Jeff Whipple of
Evansburg and Perry Sutherland
teamed up with Nicole
Currie of Sturgeon County to
take home silver in the mixed
60-plus category.
Sutherland and Dave
Kallal won bronze in the
men’s 60-plus while Susan
Peebles and Rachel Mallet
won bronze in the women’s
60-plus, Rolly Fagnan and
Mira Fenton claimed bronze
in the mixed 70-plus.
And there’s more pickleball
on the horizon. George
Oko said he put out the announcement
for the annual
Fall Back Zone 5 Tournament
Nov. 3-4 and he’s already
nearly full.
He said he has teams
coming out to Westlock from
Bonnyville, Camrose and
Red Deer.
“We have two a year here
in Westlock, usually on the
fall-back and spring-ahead
weekends,” he said. “I just
put the notice out this last
week, and I’ve got so many
entries it’s not even funny.
There’s a lot of people who
want to come play. It’s been
unbelievable.”
