Faith Moving Forward hosts pickleball tourney

Pickleballs were flying at Streeter Park both Saturday and Sunday in a first-ever two-day event which raised both money and awareness for the Faith Moving Forward Foundation.
Named in honor of the late Sydnee Owens, who died in 2012 after losing a battle with non-Hodgkins Lymphoma, the foundation helps Sydnee’s family continue sharing her message of love and support.
“It was great to be able to have that many people just hear her message and know that you had a 14-year-old girl that was able to raise as much money as she did for wells (being dug in Haiti),” said Nick Owens, Sydnee’s father. “Being sickly and in the hospital frequently, she found a way to do that. That’s always been my story because I’m like, so what’s my excuse as an adult?”
The Faith Moving Forward Foundation has hosted trail runs for several years at the Carlson ranch near Marquette, but this year the focus shifted to a sport growing rapidly in popularity.
“I started dabbling in pickleball last year and realized it’s such a broad sweep of age groupings,” Owens explained. “That, to me, promotes a family atmosphere and pickleball seems to be what’s really going now.”
The debut event drew 16 men’s and women’s teams on Saturday, and 13 teams Sunday in two divisions, one based on skill ranking and the other more for fun. Owens said there were a few teams that played both days, but not many.
“There were some that had connections (to Sydnee or the Owens family) but the vast majority just like pickleball,” Owens said. “I was really fortunate to kind of get hooked in with Sami (Vincent) from the Bremer Center, who had done a tournament during A’ROR’N Days and there were some people who just liked coming to this area. We even had a few teams come up out of Beatrice.
“Each day before we started the tournament we gave them a background of the foundation and how it started up and what our purpose is,” Owens continued. “Her heart was behind raising money for wells while she was going through treatments and we are wanting to carry that on for her through the Faith Moving Forward Foundation.”
The money raised this weekend was split between the Sydnee Faith Owens Memorial Scholarship, which goes to a senior in high school going into the medical field, and to the foundation, which supports the Pediatric Cancer Action Network (PCAN) and Water For Life Haiti.
“People in the medical field can really make or break a day, especially for a pediatric patient,” Owens said. “This scholarship is another way to kind of keep her legacy going, to a certain degree, and letting them know that going into this field you can make an impact in people’s lives more than what you even know.”
Owens concluded by thanking all those who continue to support the foundation.
“God has blessed us with some businesses and friends and family that have always been so supportive of our cause,” he said. “We live in a great community.” 
Results of the Faith Moving Forward Pickleball Tournament were as follows:

Mixed Doubles
Gold Bracket: 1st, Susan Corey/Alex Trejo; 2nd, Jarilyn Obermiller/Chris Katzberg.
Silver Bracket: 1st, Jeremiah Bennett/Candi Woods; 2nd Brad Goosen/Sabrina Decker.
Good Time Bracket: 1st, Garrett Martin/Tristan Martin; 2nd Kendrik Owens/Grayce Owens.

Gender Doubles
Women’s Gold Bracket: 1st, Jarilyn Obermiller/Tina Huynh; 2nd, Holly Anderson/Stacey Ostermeier
Silver Bracket: 1st, Liz Friesen/Cindy McDaniels; 2nd Sharon Obasi/Kelley Taylor.
Men’s Gold Bracket: 1st, Aaron Bartak/Simeon Tremaine; 2nd, Scott Wiens/Curt Vanlaningham
Silver Bracket: 1st, Elvis Huynh/Jeremy Boutin; 2nd, Brad Goosen/Galen Friesen.