Aiken Pickleball News

ODELL WEEKS DROP-IN PLAY SIGN-UP FOR BEGINNERS

Something new at Odell Weeks starting Wednesday, October 5 and every Wednesday, Thursday, and Saturday thereafter: Court 1 at Odell Weeks will be reserved for beginners with sign-up for the court designation morning slot.

The sign-up will be available on Thursday mornings at 8am through Sign-up Genius just as if you were making a court reservation. Wednesday and Thursdays - 10am-12pm; Saturdays –10:30am-12:30pm. For more information for what this is all about, contact Linda Blake atmrhanKey@gforcecable.com. For assistance in signing up contact George Carr at gfcarr146hr@gmail.com.

Eblasts

Are you missing e-blast sent by Aiken Pickleball, even though your name is on our player list? Since e-blasts are bulk mailings from the website, they have the potential for being either marked as junk or being rejected outright by a server. Please make sure to add info@aikenpickleball.com to your contact/safe list. Details on how to do this can be found at the link below.

http://onlinegroups.net/blog/2014/02/25/how-to-whitelist-an-email-address/

We need a few good volunteers

Due to the generosity of the Aiken pickleball community, we were able to raise enough funds at our tournament to develop pickleball programs in several schools, starting with Leavelle McCampbell Middle School in Graniteville. We will be supplying them with everything they need to get started: nets, paddles, balls, and court markings. In addition to supporting their teaching of pickleball as part of their P.E. curriculum, we will also be bringing pickleball to their After School program. We need a few good volunteers to work with the students as they get started. These sessions will be October 7 and 21 from 3:30-6:00. If you can help on one or both of these dates, contact Mo Garcia at mog01@aol.com or Ben Lacy at benlacy1962@gmail.com by Sept 23 for more details.

Player Rating Session - June 28th

Player Rating Sessions - Click here for more information and to sign up.

South Carolina School Adds Pickleball to PE Program

Headline says it all. Click here to read full article. Special thanks to Mo Garcia for making this happen.

Friday Fun Night - Potluck and Play

**** October 7th ****

As a way for the pickleball community to regroup and to welcome new members, Aiken Pickleball will be hosting a Friday Fun Night Potluck followed by indoor play at Odell Weeks on Friday, Sept. 30 from 5-8 pm. Over eighty new players have been added to our roster and this will be a wonderful way to welcome new players and to reconnect with Pickleball friends we have not seen in quite a while.

Please sign up for the Friday Fun Night Potluck and Play on our website - or click here - letting us know you are coming and if you are bringing guests. All are welcome.

Door prizes - At 5:45pm, two drawings will be held for gift certificates for private lessons with Mo and Ben. You must be present to win.

The schedule for Friday, September 30th is as follows: The social will be in rooms 1 and 2 at Odell Weeks starting at 5:00pm. We will start eating by 5:30pm. After eating, those that want will move to gym 2 to play pickleball, as six courts have been reserved for us for open play.

Because of the Palmetto Tournament (9-11), Fall Home and Garden Show (15-19), and the Holistic Wellness Fair (23-26) play in September is fairly limited with only one Funday Monday. Let's end the month with a Friday Fun Night and get to know each other. It’s been too long since we have all gotten together.

Minutes for the August Leadership Team Meeting posted.

The minutes for the Leadership Team Meeting held on August 15 have been posted. Topics discussed were a possible social in late September, update on the Palmetto tournament September 9-11, need for new Treasurer, the Round Robin at Gregg Park on November 12, and much more. Click here to read the full report.

Boomers and Beyond Bash

THE ENTRY DEADLINE FOR THE BOOMERS AND BEYOND MIXED DOUBLES TOURNAMENT IS NOVEMBER 5. This Tournament will be held at Gregg Park Civic Center on Saturday, November 12th. Divisions are:

4.0 AND ABOVE: 30-59 (three slots available) AND 60+ (three slots available)

3.5: 60-69 (three slots available) AND 70+ (four slots available)

3.0: 60-69 (waiting list only)

EACH TEAM WILL PLAY EVERY OTHER TEAM IN THE DIVISION. MAXIMUM OF 7 TEAMS PER DIVISION.

2.5: WOMEN'S SCRAMBLE. (SIGN UP WITHOUT A PARTNER) MAXIMUM OF 9 PLAYERS. EACH PLAYER WILL PLAY A GAME WITH EACH OTHER PLAYER IN THE DIVISION.

MEDALS AWARDED FOR FIRST, SECOND, AND THIRD PLACE IN ALL DIVISIONS. COST IS $25 PER PERSON. SNACKS PROVIDED.

THIS IS AN INDOOR TOURNAMENT. YELLOW ONIX FUSE BALLS WILL BE USED.

Thanks to everyone involved in this busy week at Odell Weeks

Last week over one hundred people from the ages of seven to seventy-five were introduced to pickleball. On Tuesday Aiken Pickleball, led by Mo Garcia (our head teaching professional) held a clinic for over fifty Aiken County Physical Education Teachers to help them introduce pickleball to their students. The event was written up in the Aiken Standard. On Thursday and Friday of last week, Aiken Pickleball also provided pickleball clinics as part of the City's Summer Camp Program. And on Saturday, eight people attended a New Players Clinic.

News articles from the Aiken Standard and action photos of Mo and the kids from the summer camp program are shown below. . Thanks to all of you that assisted with these endeavors.

Aiken Players Bring Home the Gold, Silver and Bronze

Over 260 players participated in the first ever Beat the Heat Pickleball Tournament held at Riverside Recreation Center in North Augusta last weekend Congratulations to the following Aiken Players

Women's doubles

Rolene Roux and Vivian Chi - Gold Medal 4.0 and above, 16 and above

Leslie McCowan and Amy Buck.- Gold Medal 3.5 - 51 and above

Bebe Murphy and Jan Snipes - Bronze Medal 3.0 - 60 and above.

Men's doubles

Michael Howard and Mark Giddens. - Gold Medal 3.5 Men's - 59 and above

Harve Mobley and Phil Breidenbach. - Silver Medal. 4 0 - 50 and above.

Mixed doubles

Bebe Murphy and Kim Herring - Silver Medal 3.0 - 63 and above .

Amy Buck and Jeff Simizon - Gold Medal 3.5 - 54-59

Katherine and Mark Giddens - Bronze Medal 3.5. - 60 and above

Christine Chandler and Brian Eberhard - Gold Medal 4.0 - 60 and above.

Christy Pritchard and Michael Howard. - Bronze Medal 4.0 - 60 and above

Maria Binnicker and Brandon Hoffman - Gold Medal 4.5 - any age

Cheryl Breidenbach and Harve Mobley - Silver Medal 4.5 - any age

Rolene Roux and Cody Chi - Bronze Medal 4.5 - and age

Way to go gals/guys! Click here for full results in case I forgot someone.