Submitted by Dee Turner and Sandi Feller

There's nothing like Central Oregon in July, especially if there's pickleball to be played.  The skies are blue, the sun shines, the temperature reaches the high 70's to the low 80's during the day and then drops to the 40's at night.  In this fantastic setting, the Thousand Trails Preserve in Bend /Sunriver, Oregon sponsored the fourth annual "Pickleball Mania" July 13 - 15.

Thanks to Tournament Director Dee Turner (photo left) and preserve recreation director Carol for their efforts in making this a wonderful, fun event.  This year's tournament format was by skill level - A, B and C.  Men's and women's singles, doubles and mixed doubles were played over the three days of the tournament.  Winners or not, everyone had a great time!

Next year, Sandy Feller from the Palm Creek Pickleball Club, Casa Grande, AZ and Dee Turner from San Felipe, Mexico will run the festivities.  They plan  to make the 5^th anniversary an even bigger and better tournament and event.  There will be two days of unsanctioned tournament play for those who like a less structured event and then three days of sanctioned tournament play for the more competitive participants.

Mark your 2011 calendar for July 12-16^th for Pickleball Mania number 5!

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Submitted by Jan Johnson, West Idaho USAPA Ambassador

CALLING  ALL   PICKLEBALL PLAYERS! 

BOISE IDAHO IS THE NAME,  AND RENDEZVOUS PICKLEBALL IS OUR GAME!

THIS IS YOUR PERSONAL INVITATION TO PLAY IN FRONTIER BOISE, THE BIGGEST LITTLE TOWN IN IDAHO STATE!

We are talking about the Idaho Senior Games played in Boise, Idaho!  Clear your calendars and mark this date!

On the 14th and 15th days of the 8th month of the year 2010, in the town of Boise, in the state of Idaho, in the good old US of A,  the premier tournament of Idaho will commence. We are planning to make the Idaho Senior Games the premier tournament of  the Pacific Northwest.

Further information and registration may be found on the usapa.org website.  Click on Schedule and then Idaho Senior Games!

THINGS TO DO AROUND BOISE:

The locals like to inner tube or "float" the Boise River (some small white water rapids) that winds through our downtown. White water rafting and kayaking are just literally minutes away!  Jazz on the "Grove" downtown.  Old town farmers market is on Saturdays.  Visit old town shops and historical buildings.  There are two great downtown parks to relax in.  Idaho Fish & Game has a micro habitat in one of the parks so you can look a trout in the eye from under the water or look down into the ponds to see them!   Stroll and bicycle down the greenbelt that runs adjacent to the river and extends about eight miles east of town to Lucky Peak reservoir where picnicking and swimming are favorite things to do.  Camping and fishing!  There is not enough room here to relate on spots in or near Boise.  Golfers, what can we say!  Primo!  Take pub walks (some call it crawling) in the evening in downtown.  There are more things to do than most have time for!  Come and enjoy!

We have our own Idaho blog where you may find information (times, directions, schedules and general information on this superb event)!  You may go on the usapa.org web page, scroll down the left sidebar and click on Idaho Pickleball, or simply type in your address bar idpickleball.usapa.org

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Submitted by Tom and Jeanne Gearhart, USAPA Roving Ambassadors

So you want to play pickleball?  Then you'd suppose you have to go to Florida, or Arizona or maybe Washington where this whole cult thing started.  Not so!!!  Minnesota is filled with "Snow Birds":  people who go to Florida and Arizona in the winter, play pickleball there and then come home to Minnesota.

Jim Klaseus from Bloomington spends a couple of months a year at Road Haven RV Resort in Mesa, AZ.  He plays pickleball.  He comes home and misses it.  He contacts the city and asks, very respectfully, if some lines can be painted on old tennis courts so he and a few others can play this silly pickleball game in the summer.  They look at him like he might be some kind of deranged Norwegian.  Jim persists, and they finally give him 2 old beater tennis courts.  Today they have more people than they can handle on 2 courts and the city has agreed to build 4 new ones.

Jerry Maas from Eden Prairie spends his winters in Florida. Two years ago he thought it would be nice to play pickleball in the summer, so he went to his city.  A bunch of them now play 3 times a week both on indoor and outdoor courts.

Mike Jennings got it going in Lakeville through the Senior Center and the folks love it.

Dave Leach is an avid pickleballer who winters at Venture Out in Mesa, AZ.  He heads up an all-city tournament there every year and still does not get enough of it.  He lives in a small town in northern Minnesota called Onamia.  He started it there a couple of years ago in a small recreation center and this year held his first "Onamia Days Tournament", which Jeanne and I played in, and it was a smashing (no pun intended) success.

Jeanne and I used to live in the small town of Northfield, MN and became USAPA pickleball ambassadors for that community.  We tried to get it going through the Northfield Senior Center and we were mildly successful to begin with by taping lines on the school tennis courts (the only courts in town).  We approached the school district with the idea of painting lines on a couple of them and got a swift and speedy 'no', because the tennis coaches would not allow it. We have since sold our home there and are now full time RV people, so we have become roving ambassadors.  This has allowed us to play all over the state for the past couple of years and we love it.  We spent last summer in the St. Cloud area and found out that some folks were playing at the Whitney Senior Center.  What a group.  Tracey Thompson and Kim Kuester head up the program and they now have 5 indoor courts and 2 outdoor courts.  They play 3 times a week and on any given evening have 12 to 20 people show up.  Tracey started the St. Cloud Pickleball web site http://stcloudpb.weebly.com/ and the club is really taking off.

Randy Hall has a very active group in Willmar, MN.  Last year he introduced it to the Minnesota Senior Games for the first time and it was a winner.  They had 35 people sign up. This year they expect to double that number. The games are played in Alexandria in July.

We have heard that pickleball is alive and well in Virginia (iron range country to the north), in Rochester, in Ramsey and yes even the little town of Avon where a fellow by the name of Mike Collins is building a club of avid pickleballers with 3 indoor courts and he's now in the process of building 3 outdoor courts.

I' m sure there are more that Jeanne and I don't know about yet, but we will.  People in other parts of the state that play pickleball will read this article and we will hear about it.  That's great. It's a fun sport.  People of all ages love it and Minnesota loves it.

Tom and Jeanne are fulltime RVers who winter at Palm Creek RV Resort in Casa Grande, AZ and spend their summers in Minnesota where their family is.

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Submitted by Floyd Zablotny, Ambassador for Carroll County, MD

It all began three years ago when Ambassador Floyd Zablotny moved to Carroll County from Florida.  Floyd had been introduced to pickleball in Florida - it was love at first sight - and he brought that enthusiasm for the sport with him to his new home in Maryland.

We formed the first group over two years ago at Carroll Vista, a Del Webb adult community.  As a first step, we advertised in the community newsletter.  Twenty residents come in for an organizational meeting.

We started play in September with four paddles and two dozen balls, which Floyd had purchased and donated to the club.  We played on the existing two outdoor tennis courts, where we would chalk in the No Volley Zone lines.  The following spring, we had the lines added in yellow paint.

Since we started, a total of 40 residents have participated in free instruction that Floyd provided.

The community builder, Pulte Co. sponsored our first tournament in July 2009.

At left are the Pulte Tournament Players at Carroll Vista, July 2009

Two residents of the nearby town of Westminster, Sandra and Brian Bowman, noticed Floyd's name on the USAPA web site and contacted him about playing pickleball.  Floyd gave them a series of lessons and they began regular play at Carroll Vista.  They became big fans of the game.

They related their pleasant experience to Paul Garver, the manager at the Westminster Senior Center.  He contacted Floyd to begin a program there.  We taped the floor of the social hall and purchased an Ultranet system, paddles and balls with the proceeds from a donation drive by the Carroll Vista Club plus a teaching grant from the USAPA.

The room was not large enough to accommodate a regulation court, so we negotiated with Carroll County Parks and Recreation to use their gym.  We formed a committee to include Sandra Bowman, Bob Eney and Floyd for the purpose of outlining the court. We bought white gym tape and laid out two regulation courts.  The Carroll Vista Club was now able to play the sport during the winter months along with the Westminster Senior Center Group. We had press coverage from the Carroll County Times which further boosted interest.

Sandra and Brian Bowman and Floyd have grown the number of trained players to sixty in number as of this month.  Sandra, with Brian's help, is now managing the activities at the Recreation Center where pickleball is played two days per week and still growing.

Bob Eney, an alumnus of the Westminster Senior Center Club, expressed an interest in forming a club at the newly opened South County Senior Center.  He formed a committee with Sandra Bowman and Linda Zile to tape the basketball court with the white gym tape purchased for the Westminster Center.  We did not have to apply for a teaching grant this time, since the Recreation Center had ample funds to purchase a net system, paddles and balls.  Bob Eney is managing the program at South County and arranged for the Baltimore Sun Newspaper to print a three page article http://www.explorecarroll.com/news/4382/pickle-juiced/.  This again boosted interest in the sport.  Now they have thirty members who have had free lessons from Bob. They are also playing two days per week.

Thus, from a seed donation of paddles and balls, and then a teaching grant from the USAPA, plus an assist from the Carroll Vista Club, Carroll County Maryland now has three thriving pickleball groups with one hundred thirty trained players.  All this accomplished in a little over two years.  And we're still growing!

Committee members receiving Maryland Governor's Volunteer Service Certificate for community involvement:

From the left: Floyd Zablotny, Sandra Bowman, Linda Zile, and Bob Eney,  Not present: Brian Bowman

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Submitted by David (USAPA Marketing and Sales Chair) and Nancy (USAPA Membership Chair) Jordan

This summer we decided to hit the Midwest tournaments and meet and play pickleball with as many new people as we could while we travel.  When planning our trips, we always check out the USAPA Places to Play.  If you have never looked at this resource, you need to check it out.  We have met and played in some wonderful places that we would not have known about had it not been for this helpful listing.

After the Mid-South Regional Tournament in Baton Rouge, LA, we flew back to Tucson, picked up our motorhome and began our drive to Indiana for the Indiana State Sr. Olympics.  This is the furthest we have ever traveled to play in a tournament.

Paul Barksdale, a USAPA Ambassador, is the tournament director for these games and is also a neighbor of ours at the Voyager RV Park in Tucson.  Paul and his wife Wila live in Terre Haute, Indiana during the summer.  We headed to their house for some visiting and pickleball play. We were invited to park at their home and play pickleball daily at their new courts located about 3 miles from their house.  These six courts were built in a park on underused tennis courts with the help of a grant, some city contributions and the hard work of the local players.  This is a great facility and group of players.  We also ran a Pickleball Rodeo one evening for about 25 people of various ages

After 3 days in Terre Haute, we traveled northeast to Indianapolis, IN for the games.  Play consisted of doubles, mixed doubles, and singles over two days.  Paul does an outstanding job of organizing this event, so fun is a built in factor.  We would like to say, "Hats off to him and Wila for a job well done".  Play was followed by an all sports banquet hosted by the Sr. Olympic Committee, which was a real treat.  Since we had traveled 1800 miles, we won the prize for traveling the farthest.

Wila & Paul Barksdale

With three weeks to go before we were scheduled to be in Rochester, MI for the Michigan Senior Olympics, we took some time and headed up the west coast of Michigan with stops to play pickleball at the YMCA in Traverse City, MI.  There was a very friendly and competitive group of players on 3 outdoor courts.  These courts back up to a small river, where you could take a dip after playing if you wish.  One of the players told us about this, as he was heading down the bank to swim.  When the weather gets bad, they also have courts inside the gym where they can also play.  We discovered that they have been playing in Traverse City for over 20 years.  There are other locations in the city but we did not have time to visit on this stop.

Next on our agenda was Mackinaw City and Mackinac Island, which are both pronounced the same.  Mackinac Island is a non motorized island which you can reach only by ferry or private boat. They don't currently have pickleball established, so we briefly visited Brian Hellis who is working with the summer residents and the local elementary school principal to get pickleball started.  We enjoyed talking with Brian about his role in organizing pickleball for the island.  We took time out to rent a horse & buggy to tour the island, visit attractions, and of course to buy and eat the many different kinds of fudge and sample a local dish called a pastie, pronounced "pas-tee".  We had a great time touring the island with new friends and pickleball partner, Roger Workman, and his wife Jen.

Next month we will tell you all about the Michigan State Games.

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Submitted by Marilyn Holladay, USAPA Tournament Points System Chair

How can players win a Gold Medal in a tournament, but get Second Place USAPA Tournament Points?

This sounds like an error was made somewhere, but that is not the case. In some tournaments, players receive medals based on their age group (50-54, for example) even if that group is combined with another age group for play.  This is a decision made by the organizing group or Tournament Director.  For USAPA Tournament Points, however, awards are based on the results of the combined bracket.

For example, there might be two players in 50-54 and six in 55-59.  The Tournament Director might combine the eight players into one bracket for purposes of better competitive play in the tournament.  The Tournament Director might then look at the results to see which of the two 50-54 year old players did better and award Gold and Silver medals in that age group accordingly, then do likewise to award Gold, Silver and Bronze medals within the 55-59 group.  However, USAPA Tournament Points would be awarded to the first, second and third place winners only within the combined group, despite the mixed age categories.

The above means there were 2 Gold Medals, 2 Silver Medals, and 1 Bronze Medal awarded, but the total points awarded were one each of first, second and third places.  If you would like to see an example of this, go to the results of the July Michigan Senior Olympics.  Look at the MX 50-54, MX 50-54, 55-59, and MX 60-64.  In this table, "MSO" in front of a player/team name indicates that a medal was awarded, but Tournament Points were awarded differently. The MX 50-54, 55-59 line, which is the combined bracket, indicates who received first, second and third place points in the USAPA system.

One last item relative to points awarded:  by USAPA Tournament Point rules, there must be at least one more competitor than the number of places awarded.  Hence, if there are 3 players in a bracket, only the first and second will get Tournament Points. The Tournament Director may still award medals to all three competitors.

Further questions?   Email mhollada@gmail.com

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Pickleball comes to Rochester, NY for the 3rd Annual NSGA Senior Games Championships. This year's event will be held at the Main Street Armory, 900 E. Main St. in Rochester. The Monroe County Sports Commission will also be offering some great outings such as trips to Niagara Falls, Finger Lakes Wine Trails, and other local infamous places like the Susan B Anthony and George Eastman Houses. Each day will end with a Happy Hour at the main hub of action, the Hyatt Regency Hotel, with drinks, food and entertainment, and great company.

Registration is now open. NSGA Senior Games Flyer (pdf)

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Submitted by Ann Early

What a perfect pickleball pickle next to the pottery I made at Palm Creek, where pickleball is king!

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By Barbara Wintroub, Director Retrofit Pilates

We often get questions from pickleball players looking for a good set of at-the-court exercises to do before playing to loosen up and prevent injury on the court.  This month we'll take you through a few simple moves that are specific to the actions you'll put your body through on the court.

But don't neglect your after-you-play cool down exercises as well.  A few minutes at these simple routines will keep you from stiffening up by stretching out those muscles you've used so aggressively.

WARM UP

First:  Get off the bench early to begin the warm up - that's the most difficult part.

Second: March in place bringing your right knee to your chest then your left knee to your chest while swinging your arms at your sides.  Do this 20 times

Third:  Side step 10 steps to the right, then 10 steps to the left. Do this 2-5 times in both directions

Fourth:  Hold 2 paddles in one hand, creating extra weight (like a batter with a heavy bat) swing forehands, backhands, serves and overheads to warm up your strokes.  Do this several times

COOL DOWN

Here is where you stretch and ice-if necessary.

First:  Stretch your calf and quad (front of the leg) muscles by standing holding the fence with your hands for balance, your right leg back and left leg in front with knee bent.  Stand up very tall pressing your right heel into the ground.  Switch legs. Do this 5 times on each leg.

Second:  To increase the stretch of the above exercise, place your right hand behind your head and side over to the left side increasing the stretch on the entire right side of your body.  Change hands when you change legs.  Do this 5 times on each leg.

Third:  Sit on the bench, cross your left foot across your right knee.  This is called the figure 4 position because your legs look like a figure four.  Lean forward to stretch the hamstrings (back of the leg), hips and lower back muscles.  Change legs. Do this 3-5 times each side.

Fourth:  use ice on extreme sore spots or on swollen areas.  Ice for 10 - but no more than 15 - minutes at a time or you might damage nerve endings.  Ice throughout the day.

NEXT MONTH:  The relationship of eating to tournament competition

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Don't forget to register for the second USAPA National Tournament to be held November 1 through 7 at Sun City Festival, Buckeye, Arizona.  Everyone who's anyone will be there!!

What other tournaments are coming up throughout the year and around the country?  See Tournament Schedule for information.

Tournament Directors, need help putting together a press release to get visibility for your upcoming tournament?  Contact your Regional Ambassador or Media Relations Chair, David Johnson at the USAPA Contact Page for assistance.

Looking for results?  Go to Tournament Results.

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By Irene Fraties, Editor

After 4 years of full-timing in our motorhome, AJ and I, Spyro our dog and KC our cat are settling down into a cozy little home here in Bend, Oregon.  We'll be spending summers here for now, and continue wintering at our pickleball home in Casa Grande, Arizona.  Not a bad life, I must say.

We have four (currently almost unused) tennis courts in our new community.  You can imagine what plans we have!  We've found that our next door neighbor is a pickleball junkie also.  He has already volunteered to work with us to get our home owners association to convert at least one of those courts.  So you know where our energies will be directed over the next little while.  What plans do you have to expand this great sport?

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International Pickleball Week - Palm Desert Style

Submitted by Chris Thomas, USAPA Regional Ambassador - West

Palm Desert, CA. officially proclaimed 6/1 - 6/7 as International Pickleball Week and sponsored a free clinic on Saturday, June 5. 

Ambassador Christopher Thomas, at right in the blue hat,  instructed the 20 participants who showed up despite a temperature that climbed over 100 degrees.

Palm Desert City Manager, John Wolmuth, in the photo on the left wearing a red hat, attended the event as part of the mayor's "Get Fit" program for the city.

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Proclamations of June 1 - June 7 as International Pickleball Week

Ambassadors were busy around the country getting their cities and states to issue Proclamations declaring June 1 -7 as International Pickleball Week. Although time was short from the announcement of this first-ever special week to the week itself, some creative thinking and busy footwork gained quite a bit of media exposure for our sport. What we've learned this year will lay the groundwork for an even more intensive media campaign next year.  And we'd like to get as many USAPA members involved as possible.  After all, we all want to see this sport grow, don't we?

Here are the cities and states where proclamations were issued:

City of Jacksonville, NC
City of Manitowoc, WI
City of North Myrtle Beach, SC
City of Palm Desert, CA
City of Raymore, MO
City of Tampa, FL
City of Winston Salem, NC
State of Florida
State of Missouri
State of North Carolina
State of Washington
State of Wisconsin

For more detail on activities held during International Pickleball Week, go to the USAPA website.

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We have good news about liability and medical insurance coverage for sanctioned tournaments. An increasing number of potential tournament venues are requiring that they be named as additional insureds on liability insurance policies to protect them from lawsuits by injured participants. For a single tournament, that coverage typically costs the tournament director approximately $600. Therefore, the high cost of insurance has become prohibitive for many tournaments, limiting the number of tournaments and inhibiting the growth of our sport.

The USAPA has recently purchased insurance that will provide the required liability coverage for all USAPA-sanctioned tournaments in the U.S. and Canada, so long as the tournament director receives advance sanctioning approval from the USAPA, follows USAPA rules, and fills out the requisite form for transmittal to our insurance carrier.

In addition, all U.S. and Canadian USAPA members will receive secondary accident insurance up to $25,000 for medical expenses ,with a $1,000 deductible,for injuries incurred while playing in a sanctioned tournament.

To help defray the significant cost of this insurance, the USAPA has instituted a tournament sanctioning fee based on the following schedule:
Tier 4 - $50
Tier 3 - $75
Tier 2 - $100
Tier 1 - $125
For most tournaments, the fee will amount to less than $1 per player. The fee will apply to all tournaments that are sanctioned from July 1, 2010 forward. Tournaments that have already been sanctioned will not be subject to the fee but may still receive the benefits of this insurance coverage. The fee must be paid prior to receiving sanctioning. A form must be filled out for each tournament by the tournament director and sent either to the USAPA or to its insurance broker in advance of the tournament date. Details may be found in the sanctioning section of the USAPA website.

We have heard the requests for help on this critical issue from a number of tournament directors across the country and are pleased that we are able to offer this needed service at such a reduced rate. We hope that the availability of insurance coverage will encourage and enable more tournament directors to hold more sanctioned tournaments at the venue of their choice. We are committed to do what we can to further the growth and reach of this wonderful sport.

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Submitted by Karin Walton

I've got to say, this was one of the most memorable tournaments I've ever had the pleasure to be a part of, and to help out with. What a great group of people and what a "drop dead" gorgeous setting for a pickleball tournament, the Wrightwood Country Club, Wrightwood, CA.

It was amazing to watch brothers, sisters, boyfriends, girlfriends and parents, all playing together, playing against each other, and loving each other. EVERYONE noticed it and EVERYONE was talking about it!

The kids in particular, lots of them! Not only were they beyond polite, and unbelievably respectful of their parents and each other, but they also played a huge role in making the tournament a success. What a great example of "mainstreaming" pickleball at the youth level.

Some of the kids refereed non-stop for three days straight, all day long.  A few refereed over 13 matches a day!  Keep in mind, that this was in-between playing!  Nickolas, Christian, Phillie, Parker, Courtney, Trevor, Chance, Austin and Josh, just to name a few--THANK YOU SO MUCH!  I don't have kids of my own, but if I did, I'd want them to be just like you.

And what can I say about the parents--The Zbinden's, The Negrete's, Steve Luis, Karin Bacon and others.  What a treat to meet you all!   It was pretty apparent that your kids not only love you, and regard you as friends, but they also look up to you as their heroes! You could see it in their eyes. So whatever you're doing, it's working, and we all loved being a part of it!

Here are a few of our special kids - winners all!

Parker Luis-17, Chance Henry-16 and Nikolas Devito-11

Thanks for all the great memories.

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Submitted by Jean Harris, President Viewpoint Pickleball Club and USAPA Ambassador for East Mesa, AZ

Hi from the Viewpoint Pickleball Club (VPPC) in sunny Mesa, AZ.  This is a picture of a few of our club members.

While we started playing pickleball back in 2007, the only place we had to play was on some old volleyball courts, when they weren't being used for volleyball.  There was nothing scheduled, so we had to just call each other if we wanted to play.

In 2008 I started keeping track of the names of those who, despite the difficult situation, kept coming out to play.  This information helped us justify building our own pickleball courts. On May 27, 2009 we were able to use our new pickleball courts for the first time. What an exciting day it was for our players. We formed our club officially in September 2009 and by the end of our first season we had 72 members.  We were off to a great start!

Among our club activities, we have a Drop-In time for all members. Residents and guests are invited to stop by and talk pickleball with the members and sign up for our free lessons. Other court assigned times are for lessons, practice for the novice/beginner, scheduled times for more advanced players, open court time and Round Robin tournaments.    Since the inception of pickleball at Viewpoint in 2009, over 200 residents and guests have learned to play. Our goal is to continue teaching the sport and expanding our membership.

We're looking forward to next season with a full board of 5 members and many of our committees filled.  The club plans to have more variety in tournaments and club activities.  Another key plan is to hold fund raisers to help support our club growth and ongoing needs.  We expect our membership to double next season, based on how popular pickleball has become at Viewpoint.

We thank the USAPA and some of our local pickleball clubs and all the pickleball people we've met for your help and input to our club.  Without you, we would not have accomplished so much in one season!   One great reward for us is that as we add new players, they often are able to continue to play at their summer homes and help the growth of this wonderful sport.  Our experience has been that very few people who have been taught pickleball drop the sport for lack of interest. Rather, they can't wait to play the next game!

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