​Last weekend, the 2026 Coastal Clash Pickleball Tournament returned to Fred Lindstrom Park on July 11 and 12, but this time there was a twist.In past years, the two-day tournament has been run by Astoria Recreation Manager Tyler Lyngstad and his staff. This year, the tournament was managed by incoming Astoria High School senior Orrick Evans as part of his senior project. He thought it would be a fun and challenging project and convinced Lyngstad he was up for the job. Besides, he already was a regular player of the game.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement“I reached out to Tyler at the end of the last school year after we got an introduction of what the senior project might be,” Evans said. “I talked to Tyler the previous year about doing something, since we spend a lot of time out here on the Pickleball Court.”Evans said he and Lyngstad came up with the date for this year’s tournament and created fliers. Evans then reached out to a number of local businesses to help sponsor the event via donations.“Sisu Brewing Company, Ship Out Fish and Chips, Fultanos and the Co-op all gave us gift cards and shirts that we used as prize money,” Evans said. “We had two divisions. On Saturday we had the advanced division which included a total of 14 teams.” On Sunday) there were five teams in the challenger division “battling it out.”The prize for Saturday’s advanced division winner was a total of $45 in gift cards. The second, third and fourth place teams received $25 gift cards.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementLast season’s tournament was played over the July 4th weekend and turnout was a little higher, but pickleball players still showed up from all over for the 2026 edition. The winning team in Saturday’s advanced division were from other states near and far. Lester Reese from Long Beach, Washington and Lucien Georges from Arizona teamed up on Saturday to take home the top prize.The sunny summer weekend didn’t hurt — in fact, it seemed to be a contributing factor in drawing a crowd.“The environment on Saturday was great,” Evans said. “There were a bunch of people surrounding the courts up on the hillside cheering us on, maybe a little trash talk here and there. But the weather was good and I’d say everybody was having a great time.”About the gameAdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementUnlike some other sports, pickleball is open to people of all ages and skills. The game is basically a combination of badminton, tennis and table tennis and it started out as a game seniors could play. During the pandemic, however, pickleball exploded and in 2020, the sport began to skew younger. The average age of players is now 35 and according to the website pickleballheads.com, the 25 to 34 age group has the most participants, with over 70% of players between the ages of 18 to 44.For those who may be unfamiliar, pickleball has a unique scoring system that can be confusing to figure out at first. In tennis, table tennis or ba