Thursday, October 28, 2010

26 Players Thursday, Welcome 3 New Players

About 26 players showed up on a cold rainy Thursday afternoon. We welcomed 3 new players, Andy, Jerry and Bill. Andy comes from Cloverdale and he plays at South Surrey. Jerry and Bill are new to this game but they played very well because they play tennis and badminton. Glad to see Rita played with us again. I played with Grant, Terry, Annette, Rita, Andy, Jerry, Bill, Michelle, Catherine, Richard, Dave and Mike. Other players include Rhys, Ken, Barry, Matt and Pat. Everyone enjoyed many games.

History of Pickleball

A couple of snowbirds told me that they have played pickleball in Arizona for 12 years. I googled the internet to discover that pickleball is not a new game and has been around for a few decades:

Pickleball was created during the summer of 1965 on Bainbridge Island, a short ferry ride from Seattle, WA. The original purpose of the game was to provide a sport for the entire family, co-inventors U.S. Congressman Joel Pritchard, William Bell, and Barney McCallum.

Pickles was the family dog that would chase after the errant balls and then hide in the bushes, Pickle's ball was later shortened to the namesake of Pickleball. Initially, families played Pickleball in their backyards on a hard surface, driveways, and residential dead-end streets. Since the mid-1970's, Pickleball has grown and expanded from a family activity game to a paddle court sport with formalized rules.

Pickleball is a sport described as "a combination of ping-pong, tennis, and badminton", played in schools, parks and recreation centers, correctional facilities, camps, and retirement communities mostly in North America. It uses a simplified combination of tennis rules and strategies.

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Mandy's Soft Pumpkin Cookie is So Delicious

About 30 players played happily on eight courts. We welcomed 3 new players today. Joel introduced a new staff Alex who will be helping out with pickleball and to set up tables and make coffee for snack time.

Our thanks to Mandy for bringing cantaloupe, pineapple and her homemade very delicious soft Pumpkin cookies - so good that Dave ate at least six of them. Her secret recipe contains nutritious ingredients: half whole wheat flour, half butter and half olive oil. Her last pot luck dinner's caesar salad secret ingredient is lemon juice instead of vinegar. It is so nice of Mandy to share her secret recipes. If I were a food judge for a cookie contest based on taste, texture, appearance and nutrition, Mandy won the first prize !!

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Setting up 'Court Etiquette' Poster

Eight courts were open with about 24 players Tuesday afternoon. Nice to see Vern and Linda playing with us again. Danny and Gerry will be leaving for Arizona tomorrow for six months. I played some games with Jerry, Gerry, Danny, Bill, Dave, Joyce, Jean, another Dave and Annette. Our thanks to Joyce for bringing cookies, grapes, yellow and red peppers (high in vitamin A and C). Ken, Jane, Dave and I were helping Sara Woods preparing a 'Court Etiquette' poster and a booklet explaining about basic rules and etiquette to new beginners.

Thursday, October 14, 2010

How to Make Pickleball Go International?

Eight courts were filled with about 26 players. I played some competitive games with Henry, Ganbat, Jerry, Annette, Mike, Pat, Vern, Linda, Jane and Danny. Terry and Anne are on vacation in Scotland. Anne came from a small town called Kirriemuir in Scotland and so did my husband Dave. Dave and I have been back to Scotland many times. I like to visit all the old castles. Kirriemuir is a nice small town with red stone buildings (large stone walls 3' wide so window ledges 3' wide) and narrow cobblestone streets where there used to be horses hundreds of years ago instead of cars. British people never heard of 'pickleball', someone should introduce pickleball to Britain and make an international pickleball tournament.

Dave said Britain does not have the facilities for pickleball. Neither does China but China has a lot of badminton clubs. A few young people tried pickleball in China. When there are more people learned pickleball and enjoy it, they will create new facilities for the sport they love, just like people in USA turning tennis courts and badminton courts, even parking lots into pickleball courts.

Henry and Barry played with two new young men who played very well. Young players can pick up this game easily. Two other new players Vern and Linda are from Langley and they came to play three times. Linda told me they found our pickleball site on Google (the power of the internet) and it looked like we are a friendly group so they decided to come to play in Abbotsford. They joined us at our last snack time and at the meeting. She said it proved right that we are a friendly group of people (great to hear that!!). They played very well because they played pickleball in 'The Villages' in Florida (pickleball paradise with 108 pickleball courts).

Thursday, October 7, 2010

ARC Pickleball Meeting, Volunteers Needed

After playing pickleball, about 25 players attended ARC's meeting with Sara Wood, Sara Morris and Joel. A new younger player Joel played and attended the meeting, he's about 6' 4", he said "call me tall Joel". Coffee and snacks were provided. Many players joined in the discussion with lots of input, questions and feedback.

Sara Woods and Sara Morris outlined the pickleball schedule, rules, gym code of conduct, lessons and asked for volunteers to teach one court of "new pickleballers" at drop-in times (starting in January), to teach/demo at local schools, instructors for skill improvement, promote pickleball and recruit new players, social time/snacks. Lessons will be offered on Wed at 1:30 - 3:30pm for beginners in the Winter program guide and a volunteer is needed to teach. Volunteers are also required for the evening times to teach beginners. There will be some perks offered by ARC for volunteers.

All ARC's attendants have training in first aid, CPR and a defibrillator is available at the arena side. ARC will organize the 2nd annual pickleball tournament next year.

Tuesday, October 5, 2010

28 Players Tuesday, Snacks, Coffee

Paddle thanks at end of game - Gerry, Michelle, Catherine, Joyce


Eight courts were filled with about 28 players. Jane was playing with three new younger players. Chuck Lefaive from South Surrey was visiting us and Tom bought a Champion paddle from him. About 20 players at snack time, we thanked Gerry for bringing the delicious cookies and red grapes.

There will be a pickleball meeting at ARC at 3:30pm on Thursday. Sara Wood has done a lot of legwork in understanding Pickleball and its phenomenal growth, Sara Wood, Sarah Morris and Joel will be leading the discussion. All players are welcome to attend.