With a strong showing in Mesa, Ariz. last month, Sequim’s Pauline Geraci is the first National Winner to come from the Sequim Picklers pickleball group.
Geraci won the women’s doubles tournament for ages 65-69, 4.0-4.5 level with Consuelo Felix of Oak Hills, Calif., on Nov. 10 at the 2024 Biofreeze USA Pickleball National Championships.
“It felt awesome,” Geraci said about the win.
She qualified for the tournament at the 2023 USA Pickleball Diamond Amateur Championship in Pictona, Fla., last December winning the golden ticket for singles.
Geraci said winning any golden ticket automatically qualifies a player for Nationals.
While Geraci had only qualified for singles, she said Consuelo qualified for doubles but her partner could not attend.
So Geraci asked if she could play with Consuelo and the tournament staff allowed it.
The pair opened the tournament with an 11-3, 11-3 win, followed by a 12-10, 11-1 win. They won the finals decisively 11-2, 11-3.
Geraci had never played with Felix before but found her to be a great teammate on a “blind date,” where after signing up, the player posts if they need a partner, players respond, and the original player makes a decision.
“I have played with many ‘blind dates,’ both men and women, but she is the first to mesh with me,” Geraci said.
For the 65-69, 4.0/4.5 level singles women tournament, Geraci went 1-2.
She started playing pickleball in August 2022 and usually plays daily for three-four hours, she said.
“I was playing more, but I ended up with pickleball elbow for a year, which was very painful,” Geraci said.
Geraci even played at Nationals in Dallas, Texas a week after having a portion of her thyroid removed.
For Nationals, she enlisted coach Riley Chen to help her work on a few things, she said.
When Geraci started playing pickleball, she heard about someone going to nationals and asked how to get there.
“I made that a goal right away,” she said.
“So now I have played in two Nationals (and) since we won gold this time we are invited back to the Nationals again in 2025.”
Geraci will also play at the Senior Nationals set for July 2025 in Des Moines, Iowa for singles and women’s doubles.
She confirmed with Sequim Picklers’ leadership that she is the first person, woman, and someone 65-years-old to (win a national championship) in the club, but she feels many others could win too.
“We have a lot of great players in our club,” Geraci said. “Many just can’t travel or get the chance to go to these tournaments to play because of work, children, or finances, but I know they could win gold.”
For more information about the Sequim Picklers and local pickleball happenings, visit sequimpickleball.com.
