For our club members who have asked about becoming a pickleball referee, this clinic is for you!
We are fortunate to have two west valley residents, Paula Handrup and Bill Plesha, who have offered to lead this training clinic. Both Paula and Bill are USAPA certified referee trainers for the Southwest region. They have offered to lead a one day training session that also helps tournament directors, instructors, and players understand the role of referee and the application of the rules in tournament play.
CLINIC AGENDA/DETAILS
Date: Saturday, October 19
Classroom: Bell Recreation Center
Lawn bowling meeting room (west end of Bell Center)
Registration at 8:00 am
Class is from 8:30 am to 12:00 pm
Pickleball Courts: Marinette Pickleball Pavilion
Class is from 1:00 pm to 5:00 pm
This class is an introduction to referee best practices. It is NOT a rules class. You should have a good working knowledge of the pickleball rules prior to attending this clinic. It will consist of approximately 3 – 4 hours of classroom instruction with time at the end for a Q & A session. Upon completion of the classroom session we will take a lunch break. This will be followed by a three to four-hour actual on-court practice session where you will have an opportunity to practice the skills you learned in the classroom (be sure to wear your pickleball attire and bring your paddle). In order to receive the full benefit of this clinic we recommend you attend both sessions.
We will provide the following supplies – clipboards, clothespins, scoresheets, stopwatches, first server bands and pencils.
We strongly recommend that you bring a copy of the referee handbook to the clinic. This can be downloaded from the USAPA website at this link https://www.usapa.org/. Once there, click on the Rules and Referees tab. From the drop-down window click on Referee Training Tools. In there you can download the 2019 pickleball rules, 2019 Referee Handbook and the 2019 Line Judge Guide (you will need to be a USAPA member to download some of these items). In addition, there is an 18-minute quick start referee guide video that is well worth watching prior to attending the class. While on the website we also suggest that you take the referee test, pickleball rules test and the line judge test if possible. For those of you who are interested in pursuing your certification, this clinic will fulfill the first requirement in your efforts to become a USAPA certified referee!
This clinic is limited to 20 attendees and offered at no cost to Sun City Pickleball Club members.
https://www.signupgenius.com/go/4090b4fadaa28a3fd0-pickleball
Upcoming, For Sale
First, I need to take a few lines to thank Tom Jeffers for all his work on our behalf. All our emails for the past two months were Tom’s work. He also brought the Lobster to and from the factory in CA for repairs, and is now working on a couple of clinics for us in October. So, THANK YOU TOM, for these and many other things!
Cut off date for entries in our Member/Member & Member/Guest Tournament is this Sunday, September 15. We’ve had a very encouraging response, but could use a few more teams. Other Club activities on September 20 and 21 will be cancelled. There will be plenty of room for Open Play.
RCSC has mentioned several times, from several places within, that there is a limited number of times a Guest may be signed into an RCSC facility in a calendar year. That number is 14. How, or if, this will be addressed is still open. Just be aware the regulation is there – and is not new.
We have a lot of things coming up following next week’s tournament:
10/09 Fun Day at Marinette – 5:00
10/15 Fun Day at Mountain View – 5:00
10/?? Mid month Line Judging Clinic
10/?? ” ” Referee Clinic
10/21 Membership Meeting – 4:00, Marinette
10/29-31 Roundup Tournament
11/11 Color Team Tournament – 2:00, Marinette
11/18 Meeting for Men’s League and Women’s League – 1:00, Marinette
11/16 Volunteer Luncheon – 11:00, Marinette Patio Have you volunteered yet?
12/06 Membership Meeting – 1:00, Marinette
12/07 Christmas Party – 4:30, Bell Center
There will be more events, and more info will be forthcoming. Dates for the October clinics will be sent as soon as they are confirmed.
Simon, our original Pickleball Training machine, has outlived its usefulness to the Club. It still works, but can be finicky and therefore no longer meets our needs. He will be sold to a Club Member for $100. If there’s no interest, we’ll advertise elsewhere.
Thanks!
Dave
Line Judges
Good Morning!
We still need line judges for our “Roundup at Sun City” tournament October 29, 30 and 31st. You need not volunteer for all 3 days, or even all of one day, but we do need your help for a few hours! There will be a Line Judge/Referee Clinic about a week prior – exact time and date TBD. This is a great opportunity to see some great Pickleball up close. Sign up today!
Thanks,
Dave
Club Skills Evaluations and Ratings Event
This past Friday and Saturday your Club conducted over 20 pickleball skill evaluations and assigned club ratings to the participants. Our thanks to Phil Arinno, Dave Sinclair, and Kenny Long for donating their time and assisting in this process. All newly rated members will find their club ratings posted next to their names on the Pickleball Club roster page of the Club website (e.g. 2.5C). Look for another Club skills evaluation during the Spring.
As the Club approaches its busy season, look to the website for opportunities to improve your game. Round robins and ladders will start up, again. Skills clinics for every level of play will also be available.
This coming Thursday, Sept. 12, is the first beginners pickleball class. Knowing the fundamentals of the game is so helpful in improving not just your skill level, but enjoyment of the game too.
Club Pickleball Ratings-Skill Evaluation Reminder
This coming Friday and Saturday, September 6 and 7, are skill evaluation days for our club ratings. If you haven’t yet signed up, please add your name to the Sign Up Genius list.
Also, we invite all Friday Ladder players who have not yet signed up, to join us for the skills evaluation for your club rating following Ladder play. This is the perfect time as players will be warmed up and on their game!
Introduction to Pickleball
Free Introduction to Pickleball lessons will resume beginning September 12 at 8:00am.
Club Pickleball Ratings-Skill Evaluation
For our members who have been playing for a few months, or come from a racquet sports background, this event is for you. Our own Phil Arinno, a seasoned pickleball instructor and 4.5 level player, will lead the skills evaluations. Plan on some actual play while Phil and his assistants observe your skills, including serves, returns, dinking, and general play.
At the end of the evaluations, members will be assigned a club rating from 2.0 to 4.0. This rating then can be used for not only tournament play (our Club tournament is September 20-21), but playing with other club members at the same skill level. This rating is also helpful when deciding which advanced clinics to sign up for during our upcoming season.
If it has been a while since your last rating, this is the time to get a fresh evaluation and move up a level!
Mark your calendar for the following dates at the Marinette Pickleball Pavilion:
Friday, September 6, 8:00 am to 10:00 am
Saturday, September 7, 8:00 am to 10:00 am
For our planning, please go to the club Signup Genius and let us know which day you plan to attend.
Members who already have a USAPA rating will use that rating for club events, too.
Prescott Pickleball Tournament Results
There is not much going on tournament wise in the west valley during the summer. However, Prescott does host summer tournaments, and this weekend was no exception. The Prescott Lakes Senior Pickleball Tournament just concluded and our Sun City Club players brought home some medals.
In the 60+ 3.5 bracket, Cindy Golden and Lynda Skaggs came home with bronze medals. Also, in the 50+ 3.5 bracket, our own Donna Holick brought home a gold medal in the women’s doubles games, plus a bronze medal in the mixed doubles bracket. You may know Donna as the tournament coordinator for the three tournament events our club hosts each season.
Congratulations to all our club players!
Update: Club member Ilja Gregor teamed with Barry Weiner for a silver medal Aug. 4 in the men's 70-74, 3.5 division of the USA Pickleball Association Middle States Regional in Lakeville, Minn. There were 511 entrants in the tournament.
Ladies West Valley Intercommunity League Formation
For those ladies who have, or are considering competitive play at the 3.5 level, this upcoming 2019-2020 league is for you!
This league is an opportunity to experience pickleball play at not only our Sun City courts, but also Sun City West, Pueblo El Mirage, and Sun City Festival. One of our very active club players, Judy Nichols, has offered to both host the games at our club and serve as club team captain for games scheduled at the other communities. This league will require all players to be USAPA members and have a 3.5 rating by game time this fall. Games will be scheduled at 2:00 PM on Wednesdays.
Please contact Judy for questions and provide her with the following information:
Player’s Name, Age, Telephone number, Email address, and current UTPR rating.
Judy will prepare an email blast for all interested players with upcoming news and game schedules.
Lobster Update-Part II
Good news! Our Lobster was released from the veterinary hospital and is healthy, again. It does need to be exercised, so sign it out and put it through some challenging drills (club tournament is only 36 days away!) Our thanks to club member Steve McClean for helping to diagnose its ailments.
Your Board of Directors is putting a preventative maintenance schedule in place. Should the Lobster show signs of injury or illness, please return the Lobster to its home (the closet) and notify a board member at your earliest opportunity.
For our Mountain View players, a second Lobster is in the works and should be available for use this fall.