Tuesday, February 24, 2015

Beginners Pickleball Clinics

There are clinics for first-time players on Thursdays at the Moore County Senior Enrichment Center, 8040 US 15, West End, NC, from 1p.m. to 2 p.m. Regular play follows at 2 p.m. and continues until 4 p.m.

Cove Pickleball Tournament - Register Now!


The Second Annual

Cypress Cove

International Nudist Pickleball Open


Registration is now open for the Second Annual Cypress Cove International Nudist Pickleball Open!

The 3-day event is scheduled for March 20-22, 2015, and everyone is welcome to enjoy a great weekend of Pickleball fun and plenty of glorious Florida sun at beautiful Cypress Cove!

CLICK HERE to learn more or to register online.

Hurry! Advance registration closes March 19th!

Monday, February 23, 2015

Winter Classic kicks-off today

Published February 21, 2015 - www.highlandstoday.com

 

This weekend, Tanglewood will have an influx of players from clubs throughout South Central Florida competing in doubles pickleball for the Tanglewood Winter Classic.

Today there will be 125 men will be competing. The players are grouped by age and those age categories vary according to the players’ skill levels. Partners must play in the age category of the younger player.

While a number of players are making a bit of a commute to compete in the tournament, many of the players are local or have local ties, such as Mickey Dorman, who competes for Highlands Ridge during the SCFPL season.

Dorman is from Pennsylvania where he serves as an ambassador for the the USAPA (USA Pickleball Association). As an ambassador, it is his job to help promote the sport. Dormanhas been playing for five years. He played on the Riverbend-LaBelle team for four years, two as team captain. His move this year to Highlands Ridge was a real boost for the local team. Dorman raced off-road motorcycles for 30 years and won a few national races.

CLICK HERE to read more.

Thursday, February 19, 2015

DLatinos introduces the sport of Pickleball in Southwest Florida

Published February 18, 2015 - www.pickleballchannel.com

Watch as Carolina Rodríguez Jiménez from Naples, FL introduces the sport of pickleball to DLatinos. She is the only Spanish person in her area so far and was recently interviewed by one of the biggest Latin TV Channels in southwest Florida. The video is in Spanish only, but it’s important to see how other cultures, languages and countries enjoy the game!

CLICK HERE to read more and see video.
 

Sunday, February 15, 2015

Adult Pickleball Clinic in Wake Forest, NC

February 14, 2015 - www.boincinpoland.org

The Wake Forest Parks, Recreation & Cultural Resources Department is partnering with the Wake Forest Pickleball Association to sponsor adult pickleball clinics on Tuesday evenings in August. The clinics will be offered from 6-7 p.m. at the Flaherty Park Pickleball Courts, located at 1226 N. White St.
The pickleball clinics are free and open to anyone ages 18 and older, but space is limited to the first 24 registrants.

CLICK HERE to read more.

Friday, February 13, 2015

Pickleball gaining popularity in Southwest Florida

Published February 13, 2015 - www.winknews.com

NAPLES – The weather in Naples on Friday, February 13th was beautiful; perfectly sunny with a 97 percent chance of Pickleball.

“I. Am. Addicted!” said Pickleball player, MaryJo Rini, “It’s such fun! It’s so much more fun than tennis, which I played for probably four decades.”

Pickleball has been around for 50 years, but it’s just catching on in Southwest Florida.

“It’s a great game with a funny name,” said Dominic Catalano, program leader at Veterans Community Park in Naples, “That’s basically how we put it.”

CLICK HERE to read more.

Pickleball League season is winding down

Published February 13, 2015 - www.highlandstoday.com


Highlands Ridge was the only local team to win their match in the fourth week of South Central Florida Pickleball League action. The highly competitive play between Highlands Ridge and Riverbend of LaBelle went right down to the last match of the day with Highlands Ridge trailing by three points.

The “C” team of Dave Shaner and Bill Alexejun, with two wins in their first three games, took the final match earning six points for a 35-32 victory for the Ridgers. The Highlands Ridge “A” team of Mickey Dorman and Chris Donaghy had a perfect day. The 18 points they accumulated meant that the rest of the Highlands Ridge teams only needed to take a total of 17 points. The win gives Highlands Ridge a record of 3-1.

CLICK HERE to read more.

Free Pickleball Clinics

Starting on Thursday, March 12, weekly Pickleball clinics for beginners, intermediate, and advanced players will be held at the Satellite Beach Recreation Center in Florida from 7 to 9 p.m. Instruction and drills will be conducted. This will be a great time to learn and practice drills and skills. Demo paddles will also be available if you are shopping for one.

Cost for the instruction is free but there is the normal $2.00 gym usage fee.  

Thursday, February 12, 2015

Game. Set. Pickleball.

Published February 12, 2015 - www.starfl.com


While such a sport may sound made up, pickleball has proven to be the fastest-growing racquet sport in Port St. Joe and Mexico Beach (FL) with leagues and homemade courts popping up at a rapid pace.

Players are so enthusiastic about the game that both the Mexico Beach city council and the Port St. Joe city commission have held conversations about creating permanent courts.

The sport, which combines elements of tennis, badminton and Ping-Pong, is a game in which two, three, or four players use solid paddles made of wood to hit a perforated ball, similar to a whiffle ball, over a net.

The game was invented in 1965 on Bainbridge Island, near Seattle, W.A. by three fathers. The legend goes that the men’s kids were bored with their usual summertime activities so the men designed a paddle sport to be accessible to all ages and skill levels with a set of rules that were easy to learn.

“It’s just a great game,” said St. Joe Beach resident Erin Biddle, founder of the Sugar Sands pickleball team for Gulf County and Mexico Beach. “You clear your schedule, you have fun and you can be as competitive as you want to be.”

CLICK HERE to read more.

Sunday, February 8, 2015

Tanglewood Octogenarians at Play

Published February 8, 2015 - www.twrtimes.com

Tanglewood is an “Active Adult Community.” Very active! One can play board games or card games, line dance, ballroom dance, sail model yachts, ride a bike, play horseshoes, tennis, shuffleboard, petanque or water volleyball. Many have chosen to take up pickleball and the Tanglewood Pickleball Club now has 179 active members who can be found on the courts throughout the day, seven days a week.

Many newcomers to Tanglewood have taken up the game in the past year but one of the greatest sights is when our octogenarians take over a court for a hard fought match.

Homer Johnson, 83, Barbara Miachika, 82, Mel McDonald 81 and the baby of the group, Marvin Strope, just 80, all love the game and are willing to challenge all comers, regardless of age.

Homer Johnson
Homer Johnson, the elder statesmen of the group, visited Tanglewood for three days in 2009, was impressed by the looks of the park and the variety of activities, so returned in 2010 and bought a house, giving up RVing. The major attraction that brought Homer to Tanglewood was pickleball.

CLICK HERE to read more

Pickleball is a fast-growing sport with an unusual name

Published February 8, 2015 - www.charlotteobserver.com



JACKSONVILLE, Fla. "You're playing what?"

The question comes up a lot in conversations about pickleball, said George Catalano of Jacksonville.

It seems there are two types of people in the world: those who know about pickleball, and those who don't.

But the number who know about the sport — and are getting on the courts and playing — is quickly increasing. It's been called the fastest-growing sport in America.


Read more here: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2015/02/08/5501729/pickleball-is-a-fast-growing-sport.html#storylink=cpy
CLICK HERE to read more.




Friday, February 6, 2015

Register Now for Adult Pickleball League

Published February 3, 2015 - www.wakeforestnc.gov

The Wake Forest (NC) Parks, Recreation & Cultural Resources Department is pleased to announce the creation of an Adult Pickleball League.

Considered one of the fastest growing sports in the United States, pickleball is a combination of tennis, badminton and ping pong. The sport is played on a badminton-sized court with a plastic ball and paddle.

Registration for the new league is underway, but space is limited to the first 48 registrants. The entry fee is $35 per person, and the league is limited to participants ages 18 and older.

Online registration is available at http://wakeforestnc.recdesk.com/. To register in person, visit the Wake Forest Town Hall, 301 S. Brooks St., or the Flaherty Park Community Center, 1226 N. White St.

CLICK HERE to read more.



Pickleball is gaining popularity in Clearwater

Published February 5, 2015 - www.wtsp.com

Clearwater, Florida -- Would you play a sport called pickleball?

In Clearwater, the fast-growing game has become extremely popular.

"The younger folks are getting a clue to what's going on here and they've coming and loving it," said Patricia Vanhise.

Vanhise was easily one of the oldest players at the Long Center Thursday morning playing pickleball, which is like a mix of racquetball and tennis all played on a basketball gym floor.

Think life-sized ping pong.

"It's a lot of running," said Clearwater firefighter Kyle Mueller, a mid-20s player who plays pickleball for exercise on his days off. "Just because I'm young doesn't mean I'm any better than them."

CLICK HERE to read more.

Wednesday, February 4, 2015

Busy week in pickleball

Published February 4, 2015 - www.highlandstoday.com




In South Central Florida Pickleball League action, Lake Ashton upset Highlands Ridge 46 – 21. The victory was made possible by Lake Ashton’s top team that went 4-0 for the day. They received strong support from their No. 2 and No. 3 that each went 3-1.

Highlands Ridge, was playing without their No. 1 player, Gary Schinderle. The team of Mickey Dorman and Chris Donaughy had a 3-1 record but the other three teams for Highlands Ridge (Dave Majick and Dave Shaner; Doug Ebeling and Brian Gilles; and Bill Alexejun and Bob Cisler) could only pick up three wins throughout the day.

Sun ‘n Lake drove south to LaBelle where they met Riverbend and tasted their first victory, coming out on top 43 to 24 by winning 10 of 16 matches.

CLICK HERE to read more.

Tuesday, February 3, 2015

Women's Pickleball

Published February 1, 2015 - www.twrtimes.com

The South Central Florida Pickleball League has been in operation for five years. Although there are women competing in the league, they are far outnumbered by the men. At times, there have been friendly matches between ladies from various communities. On January 31st, history was made when Tanglewood took four women’s teams to Del Webb/Orlando to compete using the same format as in league play.

Each club rated their teams A, B, C and D with each pair competing in a round robin series, earning more points for matches between similarly ranked teams. It seemed that the women all enjoyed the friendly, yet strong, competition. The Tanglewood team took three of four games in each of the first three rounds and swept the final round where the greatest number of points is amassed, taking 58 of a possible 67 points on the day’s play.

CLICK HERE to read more.

Monday, February 2, 2015

Fast-moving pickleball is catching on with OBX seniors

Published February 1, 2015 - www.outerbanksvoice.com

What are all those “old people” doing every week over at the Rec Park in Kill Devil Hills? Playing pickleball.

Pickleball’s a crazy cross between badminton, tennis, ping pong and wiffle-ball, and has been sweeping the nation since its inception in 1965. Over-age-55 communities from Arizona to Florida proclaim it as the fastest growing sport in the United States.

Outer Banks senior citizens aren’t arguing the statement. Dozens of them flock to the nets and try not to miss any of the three organized days of local play weekly.

Created by some bored family members and friends on the West Coast, their idea was to come up with something the whole family could play together. Throw into the mix a low, 36-inch-deep net, some paddles and a perforated polymer ball on a badminton-size court, and you have one lightning fast game.

Organized here a few years ago by Lynn Brooks, who coordinated with the Baum Center, the sport took off and continues to grow and grow, said Emily Gould, program coordinator for older adult services at the center. She said Parks and Rec created an indoor space for playing, and “it has certainly been up and coming and constantly getting new members year over year.”
 
CLICK HERE to read more.
 

Sunday, February 1, 2015

The Second Annual Cypress Cove International Nudist Pickleball Open

Registration is now open for the Second Annual Cypress Cove International Nudist Pickleball Open!

Register now for a full weekend of sun, fun and Pickleball tournament excitement at beautiful Cypress Cove in Kissimmee, Florida.

CLICK HERE for more information.