More than 40 teams battled it out in three divisions during the Second Annual Smash the Stigma Pickleball Classic at the Strode Center on Saturday.

From improved draws to more players, the tourney went better than the inaugural event according to Jaxon Keller, one of the tournament directors.

“Number one, the bracket was much more organized this year. We had a way better turnout with that,” Keller said. “Also, we had more teams this year. That went smoother, which was nice.”

The event took a bit longer because of the increase in the number of players, but Keller said things went smoothly.

“I think everything just flowed better this year,” Keller said, “which was good for everybody watching and playing.”

Keller was instrumental in getting the event started as a fundraiser to help raise suicide awareness.

“We founded the tournament last year because we wanted a fundraiser for our team for the Suicide Walk, which is an event in September,” Keller said, “and I suggested we do a pickleball tournament because pickleball is ever growing, especially in Aberdeen. We have a plethora of players.”

Keller was pleased with the way the first ever tourney went, and pointed out that organizers had a bit more time to plan out this year’s event.

“We started planning in June and the tournament was Aug. 2 last year,” Keller said. “It did great for its first year and we had a lot more time to prep this year.”

The tourney is the only pickleball event in the region.

“It’s the only tournament in the area for us,” Keller said.

Keller is hoping that tourney will continue to be an annual event.

“We had great players, we had great matches,” Keller said. “I really say in all three divisions, Family, Chill, and Competitive, we had great matches. … It was a great day.”