My Take on the Columbus Challenger 2024 Thing
Alright, so I checked out the Columbus Challenger this year, 2024. Didn’t play, obviously, just went to see what was up. Heard about it, thought, why not, let’s see some tennis locally.
Getting there was simple enough. Found the place, parked, walked over. First impression? Looked like a tennis tournament, alright. Lots of people milling about, some wearing event shirts, looked busy.
I grabbed a schedule, tried to figure out who was playing where. It felt a bit… scattered. Like, you had to really look to find the court assignments. Maybe that’s just how these smaller tournaments run, I don’t know. Found a court eventually, sat down on the bleachers.
Watched a match for a bit. These guys can really hit the ball, no doubt. Lots of effort, lots of running. You see the serves, the returns. It’s proper tennis. But between points, you notice other stuff.
- People seemed to be doing multiple jobs. Saw one guy checking tickets, then later he was helping with court cleanup.
- Coordination felt a little loose. Like maybe one hand didn’t always know what the other was doing.
- Heard some chatter nearby, sounded like volunteers figuring things out on the fly.
It kind of reminded me of this project I worked on once. Everyone had good intentions, working hard, but the overall plan wasn’t super clear. You just hoped it all came together in the end. And it did, mostly. The matches happened, winners won, losers lost.
Walked around some more. Saw the practice courts. Watched some warmups. The atmosphere was pretty low-key overall. Not like the big pro tours you see on TV, obviously. More relaxed, maybe a bit rough around the edges.
Tried to get a snack later. The lines were kinda long, options were basic. Standard event stuff, I guess. Nothing special, nothing terrible.
So, yeah. Spent a few hours there. Saw some decent tennis, observed the whole operation. It felt like a real grassroots effort, put together with what they had. It worked, the event happened. Just felt… put together, you know? Not slick, but functional. Left feeling like I saw exactly what it was: a challenger-level tournament doing its thing.
