The Masters Games, The Villages

The Masters Games - The Villages FL

Thanks to Madeline Castro, Special Events Coordinator, 1200 Avenida Central, The Villages, for providing the results of the recent Masters Games, Pickleball Competition held at The Villages.

Men’s

50-54 Champs Bill Freeman/Jeff Shank
2nd Place Tom Day/Jeff Christmann
3rd Place - Frank Cherill/Steve Webster
55-59 Champs Barry Gee/ Larry Cole
2nd place Jim Claycomb/Art Severn
3rd Place - Greg Hanson/Bill Johnson
60-64 Champs Milo Karhu/Vinnie Hindley
2nd Place Tom O'Neil/Ken Cornell
3rd Place - Rich Skaare/Jim Fournier
65+ Champs Pete McNamara/John Hatfield
2nd Place Gary Van Luven/Norm Dahm
3rd Place Rich Skaare/Jim Fournier

Women’s

50-54 Champs Tiana Lawson/Will Clair
2nd Place Christa Curtis/Patsy Rucker
3rd Place - Kristina Crenshaw/Barb Dewitt
55-59 Champs Sue Severn/Nancy Nowak
2nd Place Brenda Littlefield/Nadia Maric
3rd Place - Pat Bowers/Irene Mueller
60-64 Champs Deb Harrison/Margaret Morgan
2nd Place Lois Wiebley/Maureen Owen
3rd Brenda Plews/Kate Aiello
65+ Rosemarie Pietromonaco/Beverly Pheasant
2nd Place Arlene Krist/Nancy Brown
3rd Place Phyilss Ward/Delores Rost

Mixed

50-54 Champs Gary Van Luven/Will Clair
2nd Place Tiana Lawson/Ken Cornell
3rd Place Tom Day/Kristina Crenshaw
55-59 Champs Art + Sue Severn
2nd Place Jim Claycomb/Brenda Littlefield
3rd Place Nancy Nowak/Herb Wierzbach
60-64 Champs Bill Freeman/Deb Harrison
2nd Place Tom O'Neil/Sharon Keil
3rd Place Larry Decker/Patti Bowers
65+ Champs Patsy Rucker/Harry Callen
2nd Place Jim Spurlock/Arlene Kirst
3rd Place Pete McNamara/Jan Havilan

For the complete photo gallery of the event click on the following link: http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=12cyis80.4rlbgzbs&x=0&y=qn49k2&localeid=en_US

Rich Donald Competes in The Masters at The Villages

Rich Donald Competes in Masters at The Villages

Rich Donald, ambassador for New Tampa, Wesley Chapel FL competed in The Masters Games at The Villages in April.

The Masters at The Villages attracts the best players in Florida.

The picture at the left shows Rich competing in the 55 - 59 age category at Lake Miona. Although Rich did not place in the finals, the competition was very stiff.

"Drilling for Success in Pickleball"

"Drilling For Success in Pickleball" and www.pickleballsuccess.com/ by Mary Littlewood and Sandy Stultz.

We're pleased to inform you that our blog site: www.pickleballsuccess.com/ is up and running! Our intent is to post articles on it that be informational and of value to you as pickleball players. It would be most helpful to us if you would have a look at our site; check out all of the links; and then give us some input via the comments option following each article posted or the "contact us" link.

Mary Littlewood

Our book, "Drilling for Success in Pickleball", will be available to ship April 30th. The book - 70 pages in color: 5 1/2 X 8 1/2 and signed by the authors - is $15 + $5.00 (shipping and handling) plus $1.34 (Arizona sales tax if applicable). The synopsis of the book is available on our blog site. If you wish to purchase one, send a check or money order to:

Pickleball Enterprises
200 E. Southern Ave. #201
Apache Junction, AZ. 85219

We have, unfortunately, met some snags in putting in place our down loadable book. There have been some technical difficulties that we hope will be resolved soon. Once the down loadable book is available, thee will be a notice posted on our blog site

It is our hope that our expertice in the teaching of sports can be of value to pickleball players. Thanks for your support in this project.

Sandy Stultz

The Mt Olive North Carolina Pickle Festival

The First Pickleball Event at The Mt. Olive North Carolina Pickle Festival

The first ever Pickleball Event of the 22nd Annual Mt. Olive Pickle Festival, Mount Olive, North Carolina, took place on Saturday, April 26, 2008. Competitors came from as far as Sebring Florida to take part in this fun event. Although the number of competitors was limited, interest in the game by spectators was high.

John Simpson, the ambassador for Charlotte, North Carolina, saw the natural tie in with pickleball and The Pickle Festival and convinced the organizers to host a pickleball tournament as part of the festivities. A portable net was set up on the street and the courts were marked off with chalk for the day. Experienced players from Crumpler, North Carolina, Sebring, Florida, and Charlotte, North Carolina put on a demonstration of the game for passers by.

Some younger spectators and volunteers joined in to learn the rules of the game and play with the experts. They enjoyed learning about the game and were given the name of the USAPA website to take back to their physical education teachers to promote the teaching of pickleball. A volunteer from the Mt. Olive Community College was also an observer and was given information about pickleball and the demonstration CD by John Simpson.

Although there were no real winners of the competition, participants in the mixed grouping received the “green” medal, a case of Mt. Olive Kosher Dill Spears compliments of the Mt. Olive Pickle Company.

John hopes with more promotion next year’s event will be even larger. He also wants more spectator involvement in the event next year. It seems such a natural that pickleball be part of the festivities.

Thanks to John for his efforts in getting the event going. It shows that with a little ingenuity pickleball can be played anywhere.

For more pictures click on this LINK: http://picasaweb.google.com/rwroswell/April272008?authkey=fg-rEXlVsE8

Submitted By:
Wayne Roswell
Ambassador, Sebring FL

New Website for Pickleball Players

Pickleball Success

We're pleased to inform you that our blog site -
www.pickleballsuccess.com - is up and running! Our intent
is to post articles on it that would be informational and
of value to you as pickleball players. It would be most
helpful to us if you would look at our site; check out all
of the links; and then give us some input via the comments
option following each article posted or the "contact us"
link.

Our book, "Drilling for Success in Pickleball", will be
available to ship, April 30th. The book - 70 pages in
color; 5 1/2 x 8 1/2 and signed by the authors - is $15.00
+ $5.00 (shipping and handling) plus $1.34 (Arizona sales
tax if applicable). The synopsis of the book is available
on our blog site. If you wish to purchase one, send a
check or money order to: Pickleball Enterprises
200 E. Southern Ave. #201
Apache Junction, AZ. 85219

We have, unfortunately, met some snags in putting in place
our downloadable book. There have been some technical
difficulties that we hope will be resolved soon. Once the
downloadable book is available, there will be a notice
posted on our blog site.

It is our hope that our expertise in the teaching of sports
can be of value to pickleball players. Thanks for your
support in this project.

Mary Littlewood
Sandy Stultz

Pickleball Takes Local Ambassadors Back to School

Coach Megan Leahy Brings Pickleball Demo to the Nancy Bartles Middle School in Tampa, Florida.

Local ambassadors Donna and Rich Donald of New Tampa Florida went back to school recently to teach pickleball to a group of middle school students. They assisted Megan Leahy a Physical Education Specialist at Nancy Bartles Middle School in Tampa Florida in introducing pickleball to her students. Donna and Rich invited Don Bass and Renee Glassman, local Pickleballers from Meadow Point II, Wesley Chapel, Florida to help with the demonstration.

They have described their experience in an excellent article. Please read about their "Back To School" experience.

Pickleball_Takes_Local_Ambassadors_Back_To_School.pdf

Congratulations to Ms Leahy for introducing the game of pickleball to her students. This is a life long sport the students can enjoy.

Hopefully, more ambassadors will be able to build on Donna and Rich's lead.

To see photographs of the students participating and enjoying this sessions, please click on the following link: http://picasaweb.google.com/rwroswell/NancyBartlesMiddleSchoolInTampaFlorida?authkey=PlW4t_g2jzw

Coach's Corner

The following section contains two articles in our series called Coach's Corner. Neal Nightingale has been able to line up some excellent contributors to this feature.

The following articles on "Pickleball Practice" and "Backhand Technique's" have been written by Gale Leach.

Her profile is provided below:

Gale H. Leach
Surprise, Arizona
Secretary, USAPA

Author of The Art of Pickleball which won the 2007 Arizona Book Award and will soon be available in its second edition
(Amazon.com, BN.com) -- $19.95

To do the articles justice, they are being published in their original format. The article "Pickleball Practice" is the first of the two. To open these excellent articles, click on the following links:

Backhand_Techniques.pdf
Pickleball_Practice.pdf

After reading these articles, I am sure you are going to want to purchase her book. Thanks Gale for your excellent contribution to our blog.