Category: Announcements

Upcoming Events

VOTE RESULTS:  FOR = 1101, AGAINST 418.  THE VOTE TO BUILD THE PICKLEBALL COURTS PASSES!!

The Pickleball courts opened on June 8th on a limited basis. See the new rules and make a court reservation!
Pickleball is back! The first players to hit the courts were Dave Roberts and Alex Shtarker on court 5, with Bob Shuck and Jim Valenti on court 6.

 

PB Courts Key Dates:

Bids returned:   April 17th
Club Board vote on funding:  May 26 – Club Approves funding Project subject to Membership Vote
Membership Vote Ballots Distributed – starting May 30th
Membership Voting Period:  May 30 – June 29th
Video “Roundtable Meeting” in lieu of Town Hall Meeting:    Now Playing (below) and on Resident Portal (and Channel 27 starting June 9th)
Club Membership Vote results:    June 29th    

VOTE RESULTS:  FOR = 1101, AGAINST 418.  THE VOTE TO BUILD THE PICKLEBALL COURTS PASSES!!

The Villages Pickleball Courts Roundtable
(video presentation)
Script of the Roundtable video – lots of good information
Pickleball – A Great Sport For Seniors
Is Pickleball the Perfect Sport for the Pandemic?

 

 

Pickleball Courts Planning Permit Approved!

 

Great news!  At a public hearing this morning the City of San Jose Planning Department approved the planning permit for the new Pickleball Courts!

Almost 50 Pickleball members and supporters attended the Planning Department hearing at City Hall in support of the of the permit application.  Our Project Designer, Mowat, and Garry Gray, past club president, spoke to the key design elements and the history of the club and the courts project.  One resident from outside the Villages expressed a concern about noise, but the City planning staff noted that the design meets the City standards for noise and will only operate during daylight hours.  Mowat noted that the area has been zoned for over 30 years for uses like tennis courts or other outdoor sports, longer than the houses nearby.  After careful deliberation the Planning Director ruled to approve the permit.

Next steps are for Mowat to develop a detailed cost estimate to be taken to the Club Board.  With Club Board approval, then a membership vote will be scheduled.  Then hiring a builder and construction begins.

Thanks to everyone who came to City Hall early this morning to support the project!   We are finally making great progress and on our way to having new courts.

Using the Pickleball Paddle Waiting List…

Yes – Pickleball is getting more and more popular here at the Villages! When there are many players waiting on unreserved (or open play) courts, it’s only fair to have a method of making sure everyone gets their turn to play. The instructions below explain how to use the new paddle holder to keep track of “Who goes Next”. 

Thanks to our founding President Nancy Keane who originally proposed this idea that was being used in her “summer” state of Tennessee, and to Joe Spada for suggesting it again. 

An ENORMOUS thank you to Jim Valenti, who made the holder from my specs in a day, and then installed it for us! It’s wonderful having such talented folks as part of our group!

2019 Inter-Club Bocce and Pickleball Tournaments

We are delighted to announce that we will be having reciprocal tournaments between the Village Bocce Club and the Villages Pickleball Club, just as we did last year. It was fun in 2018 and this year should be even better.

The 1st tournament between the two clubs will be on Saturday, August 17th from 1:30-4:30 p.m. at the bocce courts. Refreshments will be provided. Players for the Bocce tournament can register on the club’s website, www.villagesbocceclub.com.

The free pickleball tournament will be on Sunday, August 25, from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m. This will be a very casual tournament, and you can play as many games as you want. Refreshments will be provided. If you want to play in that event, please register online at www.villagespickleball.org or sign up at the tennis shack.

If you’re new to bocce, you can attend the Bocce Bashes on Fridays at 3pm at the Bocce Courts. 

If you are a new or inexperienced pickleball player, you have several opportunities to learn the game from a Pickleball Club instructor:  Half-hour lessons are available to all Villagers every Wednesday and Friday at 1:00 on Courts 5 and 6. No registration is required.

Paddles and balls are provided at all pickleball sessions.  Please wear non-marking court shoes. Observers are welcome.

Signup for Pickleball Tournament

Signup for the Bocce Tournament

USA Pickleball Ambassadors Visit

Pickleball ambassadors are volunteers who have pledged to promote the sport of pickleball and the USA Pickleball Association. On Tuesday, July 2, our local USAPA ambassadors, Mike and Princess Leong, were invited to the SIR 114 luncheon at the Clubhouse.  Mike and Princess gave an informative talk about pickleball and the benefits of playing, followed by a demonstration on the courts.Spectators were encouraged to join in and play.The Leongs are very supportive of our plans for dedicated courts, acknowledging this would make pickleball atThe Villages accessible to more players. They listed some of the many benefits:attracting new residents, increased club membership, building new friendships and supporting healthy living.  A big thank you to the SIR organization for helping to promote pickleball here in The Villages!

Join Pickleball Ambassadors – July 2nd

USA Pickleball ambassadors to speak at SIR 114 luncheon

On Tuesday, July 2, Mike and Princess Leong will be speakers at the SIR 114 luncheon in the Fairway Room at the Clubhouse. They are a team of ambassadors for the USA Pickleball Association. They promote the sport of pickleball and help start new places to play.

In April of 2017, the couple ventured out to Canoas Park on Princess’ birthday to “just observe” a new sport that Mike had discovered called pickleball. They were warmly greeted by the players who were present and were invited in. A gentleman offered two of his paddles for Mike and Princess to try out. After 10 minutes of playing, they were hooked. Since then, they both have been playing regularly in the Bay Area and in venues around California. They have competed in several tournaments in California as well as in Utah and Arizona, winning their share of medals in singles and mixed doubles.

Guests are invited to attend and should come to the Clubhouse around 12:30 p.m. After this presentation the Leongs will give us a demonstration on tennis courts 5 and 6, so bring your court shoes and participate.

Pickle Up! Training in July

Pickle Up!

It is time for our second annual Pickle Up! It will be held Tuesdays and Thursdays, July 16 – August 1, 6-8PM on tennis courts #5 and #6.

Joe Spada is organizing this comprehensive six session introduction to pickleball. This is a fabulous opportunity to learn about pickleball, practice what you learn and meet people to play with.

Session 1 – July 16: Introduction, Equipment, Serve and volley drills
Session 2 – July 18: Rules of the game, Serve and volley drills
Session 3 – July 23: Strokes Part 1, Play games
Session 4 – July 25: Strokes Part 2, Play games
Session 5 – July 30: Basic strategies, Play games
Session 6 – Aug 1: Mental game, Court Etiquette, Court scheduling, Resources, Play!

This is a FREE event! Sign up to reserve your spot.

Welcome to the New Club Leadership

Larry Martinson was elected President of the Pickleball Club at the General Membership meeting held April 7, 2019 at 4:30pm in the Foothill Center.  The entire slate of officers and committee chairs are listed here.

Larry’s remarks to the Club:

As the new President of the Pickleball club for 2019-20, I thank you for being a member of such a fun club. We truly are more social than any other athletic club in the Villages as far as I am concerned and we want to keep it that way. To play pickleball is to have FUN. 
Thank you also for voting in my new board and appointed positions. With out all of you, our club would not be possible. Let’s have a fantastic year with hopes of having our own courts built by this time next year. See my goals for the club attached.
 
Larry Martinson
 

Pickleball Club Goals

2019-2020

  1. Maintain an active vibrant Club and grow the membership by 35 members. Ginny Spencer membership.  
  2. Achieve a successful community vote on the project to build new courts in 2020. Garry Grey
  3. Continue to raise funds via EVF to build the courts. Garry
  4. Have 2nd annual Pickle UP July 16-Aug. 1, 2019. Joe Spada
  5. Continue to support our Pickleball Web Site. David Cook
  6. Continue to have club fundraising projects. Anahid Gregg
  7. Have Pickleball Club articles in every edition of the Villager. Linda Eige
  8. Hold three fun and successful tournaments. Sheryl Ruth
  9. Have our 2nd annual Holiday Club members party in the Clubhouse. Robyn/Sheryl new Social Co-Chairs
  10. Maintain our borrowed 5 & 6 tennis courts. Frank Houghton

Finding Pickleball Play Times

There is an additional resource on the website now for finding days and times to play – Joe Spada’s List.  Look under the “Play Times” menu  Play Times/Organized Play Dates/Times/Sponsors

Note that several groups are “Invitation Only” which means don’t show up and expect to get to play – Check with the group organizer in advance to find out if there are open slots – many of these are just small groups of friends and don’t intend to expand.