Registration for the 2021 Drive, Drop & Dink Round Robin Pickleball Tournament opens on February 1st. See below for more details.
Click here to register for the tournament.
Aiken Pickleball News
The next New Players Clinic at Odell is scheduled for Friday, February 5th. Details as follows: Check-in/Orientation/Court Setup 0845-0900; New Players Clinic 0900-1000; Practice Play 1000-1100.
Clinics will be held on Court #1, Gym #2, at Odell Weeks. Balls and paddles provided. Maximum 8 players. Cost is $15 per person. Sign up and pay at the Odell Weeks front desk.
Face masks are required for entry into Odell Weeks.
Please note that the starting time at Odell is now 9am (vice 845). Players can start setting up the courts no earlier than 0845, which is when the door to Gym #2 will be unlocked. Thanks for your cooperation.
The minutes for the January Leadership Team Meeting held on Monday, January 4th, at 5:30pm via Zoom have been posted on the Forums page. Some of the topics discussed include: Welcoming our newest Leadership Team Member - Harve Mobley, an avid 4.0 player, replacing Ron Nelson who will retain the Skill Rating Sessions; Court 5 - to continue limited opening; and the significant rule changes for 2021. Go to Forums or click here to read the full report.
Next meeting will be held on Monday, February 1st at 5:30 via Zoom
What makes Pickleball so special? We had four new players show up at Odell to attend a New Players Clinic scheduled to start at 0845am. They had never played pickleball before. Had never been to Odell before. They had no idea how to get started. The only thing they had going for them, they all had previous experience playing a racquet sport (racquetball and/or tennis) and they were all eager to start.
Only one problem - the instructor for the clinic got sidelined and was unable to show up. I got a call around 9:30am asking if I could go to Odell and help out. When I arrived there were four players on Court 1 playing a game and having a good time. One of the players from drop-in-play was helping them with court position and other parts of the game. He, or someone else from drop-in-play, had already shown them how to put up a net. They knew how to keep score; how to do a normal serve; basically where to stand’ and understood the concept of the kitchen. At that point they were all playing well enough that they could all come back the next day and join drop-in-play. Yes they were hitting balls out and/or into the net, but who doesn’t?
So to repeat the question - What makes Pickleball so special? The answer is the players willing to help others enjoy the game. Thank you.