10TH ANNUAL PICKLEBALL MIXER

By James Russell-Field & Lily Ng

After a one-year delay, Bank of the West hosted/sponsored the 10th Annual Pickleball Mixer on February 15th at the 2022 CSMFO Annual Conference in San Diego! This was the first exclusively featured Pickleball Mixer, a pre-conference event, held at the Coronado Island Marriot public courts and led by Pro Lon Krantz. The event was organized by Lily Ng, Managing Director of Bank of the West. The Lunch Sponsor was Chandler Asset Management and the highly coveted trophies were sponsored by Oracle. The USA Pickleball February newsletter announced that pickleball was the fastest growing sport two years in a row at a 39.3% growth with 4.8 million players in the US as of January 2022. It is easier to pick up than tennis. This was an advantage for newer players (who play other racket sports) looking to pick up the sport at the mixer, and for returning players (like me) who would normally need the full mixer to get back into tennis. On February 15th, waking up to rain and wind on Tuesday morning in San Diego was a surprise! Despite some early morning concerns, the rain stopped by the time players arrived at the courts. The courts were still wet and drying off when all 26 players arrived, but with the help of a squeegee the Pro was able to push the standing water off the courts. By the time everyone finished lunch, the clouds and wind came but the courts were dried out and the Mixer was on! The warm up and games were all played in doubles. After helping players warm up and providing tips and strategies to play, the Pro explained how pickleball scoring works. It is played to 11 points, with a serving strategy and rotation best explained by a quick Google search! According to the Pro, “If four people are playing Pickleball, at least one player will be able to figure out the score.” 2022 Flight 1 Champion Jason McBride, Finance Director for the California Join Powers Insurance Authority said “I had a great time. As a first-time conference attendee, the Pickleball event was the perfect opportunity to socialize and make connections with new people in a fun environment. Bank of the West as well as the lunch and trophy sponsors, Chandler Asset Management and Oracle, really came through to put on a great event!” 2022 Flight 2 Champion Dima Galkin, Project Manager of Harris & Associates said “I had a lot of fun playing against and getting to know the other Pickleball players before the conference started. I recommend to everyone who will attend next year’s conference to try a preconference Mixer, especially Pickleball!”

FLIGHT 1 • Champion – Jason McBride,

California JPA • Finalist – Rod Bettini,

Public Trust Advisors • 3rd Play – Max Mojab,

Piper Sandlers & Co.

FLIGHT 2 • Champion – Dima Galkin,

Harris & Associates • Finalist – Aneil Murthy,

Chandler Asset Management • 3rd Place – Sara Taylor,City of Vista

PHOTO ALBUM

Click on the Google Photo album to relive and enjoy our special event on February 15, 2022 at the Coronado Pickleball.

CSMFO thanks Bank of the West for organizing and hosting the Mixer, Chandler Asset Management for sponsoring the lunch, and Oracle for sponsoring the trophies. A special Thank You and Recognition to Lily Ng for her dedication and management of this wonderful event and for reaching the 10th Year Anniversary of this event at the CSMFO Annual Conference! CSMFO Past President Laura Nomura said on LinkedIn “Lily, thank you so much for Bank of the West’s support over the years. Your Tennis & Pickleball events add a great flair to our conference. Your passion and excitement for the sport shines bright!”