Ambassadors Working Together in Mt. Pleasant, SC

- Pickleball Starts in Mt. Pleasant, SC
Submitted by Therese A. Shady, USAPA Ambassador, Capital District NY
(As written in the USAPA August E-Pickleball News)

Since it was my first winter in retirement, I decided to escape the blustery cold, ice, and snow in Albany, NY and winter in Mt. Pleasant - a suburb of Charleston, SC. Charleston is a charming historical city and Mt. Pleasant is a wonderful town with beautiful beaches nearby, BUT there was no pickleball. Since I couldn't survive without pickleball for four months, I immediately contacted the USAPA South Carolina ambassador Jim Hisman, who heads up a vibrant pickleball club at the Del Webb Cane Bay community about 40 minutes north of Charleston in Summerville, SC. To my delight I found out that Jim had been in touch with the Mt. Pleasant Senior Center and had already scheduled a pickleball demo clinic for March 3rd.

Over 40 people attended this first demo clinic. Jim, two other Cane Bay players, and I explained how to play pickleball by having a demo game, discussing rules, court position, and strategy. Then all 40 attendees got to try pickleball themselves. There were a lot of laughs, some great shots, and many immediate converts to the game we all love so much. Gary Jaster of the Mt. Pleasant Senior Center had scheduled more clinics and open play for the first and third Thursdays of each month until the end of April, and I volunteered to help run these clinics. I even took time out from my St Patrick's Day celebrations to run a clinic on that day - all decked out in green and white, as shown in the picture. What fun we had!!

There is plenty of interest in Mt. Pleasant for growing pickleball, but the arrival of hot and muggy weather by the end of April made it clear we needed portable nets and an indoor (air conditioned) venue. A $250 grant from the USAPA allowed the Mt. Pleasant Senior Center to order two USAPA portable net systems, and Gary is looking for an indoor venue to become operational this Fall.

One of the locals who attended the clinics, David Hirschhorn, is converting a cadre of highly skilled paddle tennis players to the game of pickleball in the interim. Another former upstate New Yorker, Emerson Horner, an experienced player from the Buffalo NY region who now lives in Mt. Pleasant, also helped at the clinics and became my trainer for the USAPA sanctioned Mid South tournament in Mandeville, LA where I, thanks to drilling with him and playing once in a while as a guest at Cane Bay, played well against nationally ranked competition.

Gary Jaster of the Mt Pleasant Senior Center is an enthusiastic advocate for the game. I know that when I return in the Fall, we'll have indoor courts so we can continue to grow our pickleball community. The future of pickleball in Mt. Pleasant looks bright. Soon we'll be able to host some local South Carolina tournaments with the Cane Bay and North Myrtle Beach pickleball clubs. Thanks to all who enabled me to play some pickleball while I wintered in South Carolina. I couldn't have survived without getting my pickleball fix satisfied.

From Leesburg to Steamboat Springs to Daytona Beach Shores

Just another example of how pickleball perks interest across the country!

If you all remember, we did a story a few months ago about Jay Readinger, who while visiting the community of Highland Lakes in Leesburg, Florida, was introduced to our great game of pickleball.  Jay and his wife Mary Lou Gallup relocated to Steamboat Springs, Colorado,  and Jay became the USAPA ambassador for that area.  Since then he has sparked significant interest and growth in the game.  In fact,  Florida residents George and Anita Rimler,  recently visiting Steamboat Springs found Jay and his group  through USAPA's places to play!

Below is a link to a great article from SteamBoatToday.com that featured Jay's Pickleball group while George and Anita were visiting   What's even more exciting is that Anita will be representing Daytona Beach Shores as our new Florida ambassador and she and George will begin to introduce and promote pickleball in their community.

Pickleball enthusiasts seek to spread sport in Steamboat

SteamboatToday.com
 Story and  photos b yJoel Reichenberger, Saturday, July 16, 2011






Mary Lou Gallup and Jay Readinger rush for a return Friday while playing pickleball on the tennis courts at the base of Howelsen Hill in Steamboat Springs. The pair learned the sport in Florida, where it’s hugely popular in senior citizens communities, and is trying to help it catch on in their new home of Steamboat.



George Rimler eyes a return Friday while playing pickleball at the Howelsen Hill tennis courts in Steamboat Springs. Rimler and his wife, Anita, are spending a month in Steamboat on vacation.

CLICK HERE FOR COMPLETE ARTICLE

Sarasota Snow Birds Introduce Picklelball in Ohio



Petersburg court tickles local pickleball players
Couple pushing fast-growing sport to others
(7/27/2011 - ToledoBlade.com)

Ginger and Jerry Goodin developed a love of the fast-growing racquet sport with the funny name while wintering in Sarasota, Fla.

Now the retired couple want to play it in their hometown. They even prevailed upon Petersburg officials to modify the city's single tennis court at Saline and Walnut streets so the game could be played there.

CLICK HERE to read the full article

National Senior Games - Have You Registerd Yet?

2011 Winter Games

National Senior Games Championships

September 28 - October 2, 2011

USAPA Sanctioned Tier 2

This year the National Senior Games  will be played in a brand new

State-of-the- Art Facility

Gates-Chile High School

Rochester, New York

In addition to some great competition from across the country, enjoy our Happy Hours each day after the games with drinks, food and entertainment, and  opportunities for excursions to places like Niagra Falls, Finger Lakes Wine Trails and more..........

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER NOW

Registration must be postmarked by September 3, 2011



North Georgia Pickleball Club - the ladies compete this time!

Submitted by Ann Earley

North Georgia Picklebal Club

This club always finds something creative to do on the pickleball courts.  These pictures are from the final match of the the very first
"Women's Twins Tournament."

  Now, I did inquire as to who the "twins" were in the club.   " What do you mean - Judy and I don't look alike...  OK - Of course I should have known." Didn't you see the movie "Twins" with Danny Davito and Arnold Schwarzenegger?"

Ann says it was a hard fought match, but  she and Judy were beaten soundly 11-3.

Here are the "twins " winners standing behind the Club's banner: Left to right: Ann Earley, Judy Vonesh, Pat Dunn and Pamela Ridge.   Congratulations ladies!! 

 And after the match Pam finds some tired pickleball players, enduring the heat and humidity: Judy Vonesh, Steve Dunn, Ken Riordon, Pat Dunn, Ann Earley, Tom Earley and Bocce, our pickleball mascot. 

.

Now - rumor has it that Tom Early has one of those "significant" birthdays coming up in about a week.  I'm not going to get in any trouble by telling you which one!!  But I understand the pickleball club will be celebrating with a catered dinner, singing and karaoke. and a gourment specialty cake from  "Chocolate Fix".All pickleball players are invited to attend in the appropriate 50's or 60's attire.

And then stay tuned as we draw closer to their  Annual Fall Pickleball Tournament!!!

Palm Beach - Kids Fitness Festival

The Kids Fitness Festival (KFF) of the Palm Beaches was held at the Palm Beach County Convention Center on July 13 and July 14.

Each year more than 6000 Florida youth gather for two days of fitness and fun! Full of excitement and energy, festival participants have the opportunity to get hands on experience and develop skills in over 40 different sports clinics.

This year Florida ambassador Dick Freshley and his wife Verna ( pictured here with two KFF staff members) took on the challenge of introducing pickleball to these young folks.

"Today we finished our first day at the Kids Fitness Festival.  There were thousands of kids but most of them very young, under 10 years.  At first I tried to give some basic instruction and have a little informal volleying. Tha tdidn't work at all.  We were shuttling in four players every ten minutes. Even at that there were always 20 or more waiting to get on the court. If the group was very young I tried to encourage them to try another activity. Sometimes this worked, but not always.

The groups came in school buses from day camps....... for the most part the kids enjoyed the activity and many came back a second and third time. If nothing else they were enthusiastic. There were dozens of things to do that I thought were more appropriatefor them and they wouldn't have to wait either. So, I was surprised by their persistence."

Dick and Verna also said that they had a lengthy interview with a Sun-Sentinel reporter and photographer...............maybe well get to see that in print or on the air!!!

Thank you Dick and Verna for taking the time to bring joy to our Florida youth and to introduce them to our great game!

CLICK HERE for more pictures from our pickleball day with the kids.

SC Snowbirds take the Gold in New York

Submitted by:
South Carolina Ambassador
Jane Harvey

We're enjoying lots of outdoor pickleball this summer in beautiful upstate NY and played in the Empire State Games in June. Last weekend, Fred and I played in the 2nd annual Rochester Picklefest, which was a USAPA sanctioned tournament this year with over 90 participants. We even had one junior player who came all the way from Myrtle Beach!

It was a great turn-out and it's hard to believe that two summers ago when we wanted to play here, we only knew 4 other pickleballers. Thanks to the USAPA website, people found us. Then we got connected with even more folks on the other side of the City, thanks to our two local ambassadors, Dave Thomas and Linda Palma. We now have over 250 active players on the Rochester email distribution list.

A clean sweep for USAPA members, capturing all three mixed doubles medals at the Rochester Picklefest!  Left to right, Phil and Bonnie Coburn, bronze; Jane and Fred Harvey, gold; Wendy Cooper and local ambassador Dave Thomas, silver.

When I asked Dave Thomas, if there would be a membership booth at the Picklefest, he said, "Yes, you're in charge!" So I let everyone know they'd have an opportunity to join the USAPA at the tournament, gave them information about the benefits of joining, and suggested they bring their checkbooks. I also offered to pay the postage for their applications and gave out free mini pickleball key chains to new members. Twenty-one people signed up! We now have 53 members locally, which represents over 20% of our group. Soon, the email roster will feature bold blue USAPA letters after their names, which I hope will generate more interest.

The National Senior Games are coming to Rochester again in September. This year, they will be played at a world class venue. The publicity will be wonderful!

CLICK HERE for venue and registration information:

Seminole Recreation Center

A lot of the snow-birds have gone north, but they still get about 16 regular players out on the courts to play.   Come join the group!!

Seminole Recreation Center
Home of the Good Life Senior Games
9100 113th Street North
Seminole, Fl 33776
Contact: Kristyn Sabbag
727-391-8345