Overland Park gears up for Vulcan Kansas City Open

OVERLAND PARK, Kan. (KCTV) – Get ready Kansas City, the top pickleball athletes are coming to Overland Park for the very first Vulcan Kansas City open this week.

“This is a monumental moment,” said Ilan Lakritz, Director of Pickleball, Elite Tennis, “this is going to be the largest tournaments that the Midwest and especially Kansas has ever had.”

From tennis courts to pickleball courts, set-up for the highly anticipated pickleball tournament began Sunday morning at Elite Tennis and Wellness.

“We actually redesigned our tennis courts to turn them into pickleball, so we’re actually going to have 27 pickleball courts for the tournaments itself, so it’s a big process,” said Lakritz.

A process that took four months to plan — all hands were on deck as crews transformed the tennis club into an elite stage for the world’s top pickleball professionals, amateurs and, of course, their fans.

“Scaffolding, bleachers, risers, tents for the vendors, for the people, VIP areas for the people,” said one of the workers.

And the anticipation is brewing in a city coined the “Most pickleball obsessed city in the U.S”.

“There’s not really many other sports where you can see them just 10-15 feet away. There’s going to be music, there’s going to be food trucks, there’s going to be a lot of energy,” said Lakritz.

The excitement doesn’t just start on Thursday when the tournament begins.

“We have a fundraiser that’s going to be on Tuesday… we have pro-led clinics that’s starting on Tuesday and Wednesday then on Wednesday we have pro qualifiers,” explained Lakritz, “It’s a really unique and rare opportunity and there’s going to be something for everyone.”

Organizers said they had to close registration 10 days early because they reached their limit.

The four-day tournament will begin on august 24th through the 27th.

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