Pickleball was well represented at The Villages July 4th parade this year. The Pickleball Club had a decorated golf cart driven by Julie Walias, with Anahid Gregg as the Statue of Liberty, that received Honorable Mention by spectators. There was also an entry of Pickleball fans that included Mike Walias and Mark Gregg playing pickleball while walking the entire route!
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.
Palo Alto One Step Closer to Permanent Pickleball Courts
video: https://abc7news.com/5277174/
PALO ALTO, Calif. (KGO) — No pickles are needed to play the game of Pickleball. The sport is considered the fastest growing, across the U.S. All it takes is a paddle, whiffle ball and a net.
“They do say it’s tennis, badminton and ping pong,” Monica Engel Williams said. Williams is the Palo Alto Pickleball Club President. On Monday, she showed what it takes to prepare for a match at Mitchell Park.
Blue lines across a dual-use court currently dictate where makeshift pickleball courts begin, and where permanent tennis courts stand.
“Right now, we have nets that we have to take out of the bag, put the nets up, take them down, put them away,” Williams described.
She explained these are tasks that can be a tall order for some seniors, and simply extra work for others. “In two years, we figured we had lifted seven-tons of nets, because they’re like 23 pounds each,” Williams said.
Pickleball enthusiasts in Palo Alto have spent about 2.5-years pushing for permanent courts at the park. Tennis players have pushed back.
However, the city’s Parks and Recreation Commission recently backed a plan- a compromise to accommodate all athletes. Palo Alto’s Director of Community Services, Kristen O’Kane told ABC7 News, “We scaled it back.” She said initially, there was talk about turning the dual use court into permanent Pickleball courts.
“We’re just converting the one tennis court to pickleball, and then building two new courts,” O’Kane said.
If approved by Palo Alto City Council, the one tennis court should fit four designated pickleball courts, equipped with permanent nets and all.
The hope is to help build a better Bay Area for a population dominating the game.
“It fosters a sense of community, especially for the senior population,” O’Kane explained. “Some of whom may not have interaction with anyone else during the day.”
The move for permanent courts would mean less time prepping, and more time playing pickleball.
Councilmembers are expected to decide May 20th. If approved, construction should begin in August, with completion in October.
How to Score (in Pickleball)
Thank You, Sherry and Robyn!
What could be more fun than getting 40 pickle ball players out on a sunny day for a team tournament?!!! We really enjoyed setting up the play. It started with a very competitive captain’s draft featuring Mike Walias, Mark Greg, Alex Shtarker, and Norm Krishna. Congratulations to Mike’s team (yellow) coming in 1st and Alex’s team coming in 2nd … good competitive games from everyone.
Special thanks to Frank Houghton, our A #1 court manager, and his crew who taped the courts for play. And, to Sandy Mausling who handled check-in. And, to Dennis Cullen, our master scorekeeper. And, to Robyn for a great job with the courtside refreshments. And, to David Cook who set up our registration and sent out countless emails. You are all the best!
Can I say that pickle ball players are the friendliest group? We enjoyed meeting new members and they felt warmly received by all. Can’t wait until the next tournament!
Sherry & Robyn
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
- Maintain an active vibrant Club and grow the membership by 35 members. Ginny Spencer membership.
- Achieve a successful community vote on the project to build new courts in 2020. Garry Grey
- Continue to raise funds via EVF to build the courts. Garry
- Have 2nd annual Pickle UP July 16-Aug. 1, 2019. Joe Spada
- Continue to support our Pickleball Web Site. David Cook
- Continue to have club fundraising projects. Anahid Gregg
- Have Pickleball Club articles in every edition of the Villager. Linda Eige
- Hold three fun and successful tournaments. Sheryl Ruth
- Have our 2nd annual Holiday Club members party in the Clubhouse. Robyn/Sheryl new Social Co-Chairs
- Maintain our borrowed 5 & 6 tennis courts. Frank Houghton
2019 Spring Team Tournament Results
First Place – Yellow Team
Sherry Benz Fred Mathias Greg Stewart
Mike Falarski Richard McKee Mike Walias*
Judi Falarski Kelly Murphy
Dave Hathaway Bob Shuck
Second Place – Blue Team
David Cook Bob Iacopi Alex Shtarker*
Linda Eige Bob Mandell Wayne Weiler
Anahid Gregg Ray Mausling
Anna Hewitt Lon Olson
Third Place – Green Team
Tom Dyko Joyce Kludt David Roberts
Bonnie Evans Jim Koski Bruce Wallace
Frank Houghton Norman Krishna*
Gail Keck Larry Martinson
Fourth Place – Red Team
Kay Gray Donald Kludt Kevin Prest
Garry Gray Dan Murphy Robyn Siebenthall
Mark Gregg* Trish O’Neill
Bill Johnston John Pabst
* = Captain
“Undefeateds” – did not lose a match
Mark Gregg
Fred Mathis
Bob Shuck
Greg Stewart
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.
April will be Busy! Annual Meeting & Tournament
The Pickleball Club will be having a very busy weekend April 6th and 7th. Saturday, April 6th will be a team pickleball tournament. Each team will play men’s, women’s and mixed doubles. Thanks to the tennis club we will be using all tennis courts.
On Sunday, April 7th the club will have it’s annual meeting at the Foothill Center. We will begin with a potluck of heavy appetizers and desserts followed by the election of our new officers and short overview of this past year and the year to come. This event will begin at 4:30pm.
We hope to see all members at both events. More information will follow as we get closer to “Pickleball Weekend”. Don’t know much about pickleball? Interested? Come watch our FUN tournament and meet our friendly members. Check out our website villagespickleball.org See you on the courts!