Pickleball Demo - Auburn, AL

Submitted by:
Bob Huskey, Ambassador - Opelika, AL-

A pickleball demonstration was held on Saturday May 5, 2012, at the Indian Pines Golf Club tennis courts in Auburn, Alabama. The courts have pickleball lines painted on them.

These courts will be the place for the 1st ever Alabama Senior Olympic pickleball tournament to be held on the 19th of May. There were eight people, so I was happy.

 The people that came were divided into 2 groups - those who had some experience and those who had no experience. The newbies were sent through a group of drills from dinking, volleying, serving, to hitting ground strokes.

 Players were instructed on how to line up for doubles, scoring, and moving on the court. There were 2 instructors - Bob Huskey, USAPA ambassador for Lee County Alabama, for the beginners, and Sam Bailey, an experienced player, worked with those who had some experience. All agreed that pickleball is a very fun game!

Waccamaw Sports Classic - and more Pickleball in SC

Submitted by
Rich and Diane Skovran,
Bill McElyea

Waccamaw Sports Classic, Conway, SC: “Rich Skovran, Rich Brown, Frank Nicolio and Jim Connery headed to Coastal Carolina University to get the courts layed out and ready for the 4th Annual Waccamaw Senior Classics on April 20th.

Approximately 25 players from Myrtle Beach and North Myrtle Beach participated in Pickleball. The Sports Classic is for adults age 55 and older who compete in various categories including basketball, track and field, spin casting etc. in addition to pickleball.  It was a big day for seniors. JoAnn Williams & Audrey Connery did an outstanding job keeping the courts moving, and Bill McElyea volunteered to take all the pictures. He has saved the day many times with his computer and his camera. A BIG Thanks to all these wonderful people for their time and energy. It was a fun day!

The Choose to Lose program ended with a bang! Rich (Skovran) ended up introducing about 55 new players to pickleball. Tuesdays and Thursdays were designated for beginners; Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays for the more experienced players. Many left saying they were going to find a place to play in their home state or were going to start something new in their area. Rich provided help to get things started and also gave new players a list of “Things you should Know about Beginning Pickleball."   On March 22, there was a Round Robin for any new player that wanted to sign up and a luncheon followed. It was a huge success. The Most Improved Player Award went to Irene Mertly from Michigan. T shirts were also given away. A fun time was had by all.


For International Pickleball Week We started off with a Women’s Round Robin and luncheon on April 17th. The women always have a good time and we held a drawing for some give-a ways. The food was great as always. We have a super bunch of women who always come together to spread some joy at the table and on the court.

On April 18, Ambassadors Rich Skovran,  Ambassador, Rena Grant (pictured) and friend Frank Nicolio went to Burgess Elementary to teach 50 students how to play pickleball. This was quite unique in that the teacher loves to teach her students sports that they can continue to pursue in their later years. Everyone had a great time and it is very likely that pickleball will be on their agenda in the future.

 Rena!  Great to see that you've recovered and are back on the courts enjoying the game!



On April 19 Rich held a men's Round Robin at Pepper Geddings in honor of Pickleball week. These men were some of the best. They played hard for almost 3 hours. They loved it! Following the games the guys enjoyed some ham sandwiches, potato and macaroni salads and fruit! Some shirts were given away as well as some water bottles. A good time was had by all.

 Pepper Geddings is in full swing and they are getting a new floor in the 2nd gym. This new floor should be done by June. We will have 2 new pickleball courts in this gym for a total of 5 indoor and 2 outdoor courts. It’s a great time in Myrtle Beach!

Rich Skovran will be working with the Pepper Geddings Recreation Center who will be sponsoring a non-sanctioned tournament on December 13-14-15, As soon as the entry form is ready we will post that along with all the other information you will need to get ready to play! Rich would like to thank all the volunteers and pickleball players for their support of the game and for the support given to him as the ambassador. We have a great bunch of players who help one another and they all deserve great big THANKS!

MIRC Pickleballers Were Host to Some Very Special Visitors

MIRC Pickleballers Were Host to Some Very Special Visitors
(May 9, 2012 Marco Island, FL, www.mmdnewswire.com)

Thursday afternoon the MIRC was abuzz with excitement as 14 pickleball players faced off for competition with some very special visitors. In a rather serendipitous turn of events four traveling pickleball competitors found their way to the Marco Island Racquet Center.







Meanwhile word of these top players being in town buzzed through the Marco pickleball gang and word reached traveling pickleball ambassador, Jim Barry. Both Chris Thomas and Ken Kiurski volunteered a free clinic for our local Marco pickleballers. Jim Barry and Dan Kiurski played along with members and offered tips. All four men challenged the locals to highly competitive games.

CLICK HERE for full article...........

Continued pickleball growth in Brevard County, FL

Submitted by:
Scott Nelson
Ambassador, Florida's Space Coast


"This is a good story of why the sport is growing the way it is, it has to do with “ambassadorship;” every person that plays this sport is an ambassador, some more than others. Byron Bentley took the bull by the horns approaching and soliciting condo owners and administrators of a local condo association until they said yes to putting lines for a Pickleball court on an underutilized tennis court. 

Much work went into this and the first Pickleball match/clinic was held last Thursday morning at the Indian River Club Condo and was a great success! There were approximately 16 people (10 residents and 6 guests) that turned out for the event. The guests were from the local Space Coast Viera Pickleball group. The clinic began with Pickleball instruction and demonstration by the Space Coast Viera group, followed by games which included IRC residents. It was perfect weather for this inaugural event. 

Thanks to the Space Coast Viera Pickleball group for coming to Indian River Club and making the clinic a success. Thanks also to the residents who came out to watch and learn the game. Hopefully Pickleball will be wonderful addition to the IRC community. Thanks to Byron Bentley for leading this push and to Phil McGibney for the help painting the lines on the tennis court and the being the lead for the clinic. 
The Space Coast has many ambassadors growing the sport- Congrats to all !! 


At this point we have about 97 players that currently play in Brevard County.
There are FIVE public facilities that are currently hosting open play access and I am aware of FOUR other private pickleball facilities that will have been converted from tennis courts now or in the near future.


 As the summer arrives and some of our northern friends leave, we are approaching a record number of pickleball players at the Space Coast.    Satellite Beach Recreation Center will start hosting Pickleball again starting May 19th, on Saturdays at 7pm. We had a great turnout last year and hope that many of the same players and more can join us this year.


In effort to promote our sport we will be conducting free beginner clinics at different host facilities in the area and I will also be asking for any volunteers that would like to assist in these clinics that will take place on Saturdays.


We finally got a printer lined and are ready to order our Space Coast T-shirts. The first order will be white T-shirts with a black and green print of a paddle on the back and a smaller black print of a Pickleball on the left chest with the spaceship. Thank you Suzan Griarml, a local artist and pickleball player, for coordinating this effort”  An thanks to fellow pickleball player Byron Bentley for putting together a spreadsheet of all the Brevard public facilities' pickleball play schedules for all our players."

Racket over pickleball

April 30, 2012, Ft. Meyers, Florida www.newpress.com



Pickleball at Pelican Preserve.  Pelican Preserve residents play pickleball on the community's new courts.  Video by Amanda  Inscore

“The first time I played I thought, ‘This game looks a bit silly,’” said Hank Worley, 74, a part-time Pelican Preserve resident who began playing pickleball about six years ago at his summer home in Waynesville, N.C. Once Worley got the hang of the sport, though, he was hooked. He and other in-the-know residents led the push for Pelican’s three side-by-side pickleball courts, complete with lights for evening play. The resident committee offered two weeks of instruction to introduce new players to the game.

CLICK HERE for complete article:

Gaston/Lincoln County Senior Games

The Pickleball Doubles competition took place on Thursday, April 5 at the Phillips Center in Gastonia, NC.   Pictured below are left to right are Anita McBride and Lois Stewart, 3rd place Ladies 65-69 age bracket, and USAPA Ambassador Earl Cunning (Frank Zimmerman not shown) - Men's 70-74 age bracket.

Tournament winners: 

Ladies

 60-64 – Gold – Janice Summey/Betty Hamilton, Silver – Gayla Green/Harriett Lethermon. 

 65-69 – Gold - Ann Helms/Lois Merritt, Silver – Dee Newman, Sue Jane Sides. Bronze – Anita McBride, Lois Stewart.

75-79 – Gold – Betty Kerby/Billie Martin.

Men’s -60-64 –Gold - Russell Adams/Andrew Davis, Silver – Anthony Dogan/Gordhan Patel, Bronze – Hal White/Richard Sides. 

 70-74 – Gold – Frank Zimmerman/Earl Cunningham, Silver – Danny Jones, Lloyd Clinton Beaver

Pickleball News, Macon County, NC

Submitted by:
Mike and Nancy Falkenstein
Ambassadors, Franklin, NC

The Macon County Senior Games kicked off with Opening Ceremonies and Luncheon April 23. The games are closed except for the “fun events” which includes Pickleball.


The Pickleball Tournament was held over three days with 20+ participants ranging in age from 64 to 87. The tournament format was Double Elimination for all events and was not age-bracketed. For the first time we had an entry for Mixed Doubles from outside of Franklin (Macon County). Lin Kolb and Larry Formichella came and took the Gold in Mixed Doubles


It was fun having Larry and Lin come to the games, even though they snatched the gold from Mike and I.  We have played very little outside of our local group. Even though we lost in the finals, it was  7-5 and 8-6, so we gave them a run for their money!  Both are accomplished players and Lin competes in tennis as well as a USTA 4.5 rated player.  We hope to go and visit them and play some to improve our games!





 Medal winners in the Men's Singles were:

 Gold- Ron Schott (Center)
 Silver- Larry Noyes (Left)
 Bronze- Michael Falkenstein.











Ladies Singles were:

Gold- Nancy Falkenstein
Silver – Milly Hunnicutt
Bronze – Pat Zilbauer.

Men's Doubles winners:

 Gold –Jim Bost and Ron Schott
 Silver –Paul Ballargeon and  Larry Noyes
 Bronze – Vince West and Ken Bush
(not shown).

 Ladies Doubles winners:

Gold – Judy Wirth and Nancy Falkenstein
Silver – Milly Hunnicutt and Pat Zilbaurer
Bronze – Irma Mason and Karen Campbell. (not shown)

 Mixed Doubles winners:

Gold – Lin Kolb and Larry Formichella ( Brevard and Hendersonville, NC respectively); Silver – Mike and Nancy Falkenstein; Bronze – Irma Mason and Jim Bost

Pictured: Jim Bost, Larry Formichella,Lin Kolb, Mike and Nancy Falkenstein

 With the coming of Spring and Summer and warm weather, we will be playing on our outside courts at the Macon County Recreation Park beginning May 7th.   In case of rain we do move inside to our courts at the National Guard Armory.

We welcome all Pickleball Players and look forward to having some visitors come to play when they visit Franklin.

Active residents take a swing at pickleball

May 1, 2012
Hilton Head Island, www.islandpacket.com

"It gets me off the rocking chair," Wheeler said.

 He said pickleball is not only a great form of exercise; it's also a great social outlet. Players have a good time and meet new friends. And it's not just local residents who show up to play. Visitors from all across the country stop in for a game of pickleball while on Hilton Head. Wheeler said in addition to the recreation center and Sun City, groups play pickleball in Palmetto Hall Plantation and Shipyard Plantation on Hilton Head, and in Belfair in Bluffton. Best of all, Wheeler said pickleball is easy to learn. "You won't be a beginner very long," he said.

 Read more here: