Featured Picklers - Costume-clad players

Pickleball in Halloween costumes

For one night, at least, the results for pickleball players took a backseat to how they looked. Girls Night Out at the Hillsborough Community College courts was all about playing the game in Halloween costumes.

Open play for a weekly group that reserved five courts for a round-robin tournament on Oct. 3 drew 38 women, about half of whom dressed up and played — not only for results — but for a costume contest. It started last Halloween and now appears to be a tradition.

“It was really cute,” said co-organizer Maggie McClintock, of Tampa Pickleball. “It was really hard to come up with a costume you could play with.”

Halloween contest winners were: witch Cindi Crockett; second went to Val Gutterridge at right; and Fern Rabil, on the left, took third.

Cathy Kaufman, who also is a co-organizer, noted how the Halloween theme coincided with the social aspect of open play for women only.

“I just like to shake things up; do things a little different,” she said. “We have a fun bunch.”

Photos courtesy of Maggie McClintock and Cathy Kaufman