south.usapa.orgAtlantic South Region

Pickleball News for Alabama, Florida, Georgia, and Mississippi Pages HOME TOURNAMENTS & EVENTS REGIONAL TOURNAMENT CLUBS & GROUPS Saturday, December 8, 2018 Published December 7, 2018 - www.news-journalonline.com HOLLY HILL (FL) — The City Commission on Tuesday will vote on economic incentives for a proposed recreational sports facility at Hollyland Park that some say could become the “Wimbledon of Pickleball.” An Ormond Beach couple has offered to donate $3 million to build the planned 24-court complex at the city’s Hollyland Park. It would be the second-largest pickleball facility in Florida, trailing only a 50-court facility in Naples. The target opening date for the Pickleball Daytona of Holly Hill complex is early 2020. Rainer and Julie Martens are asking the city to contribute $1 million in Community Redevelopment Area funds to cover the project’s infrastructure costs. CLICK HERE to read more. No comments: Email This BlogThis! Share to Twitter Share to Facebook Share to Pinterest Monday, December 3, 2018 Pickleball University Schools Programs Submitted by Gary Carmichael, Ambassador, Vero Beach, FL On a hot sunny afternoon in November a group of volunteer members and our own IPTPA certified instructors gathered together at Pocahontas Park in Vero Beach for the purpose of introducing pickleball to eight local physical education teachers. Pickleball University decided earlier this year that we wanted to take the sport of pickleball into our local schools in Indian River County, so you may ask how did we make this happen? Our club's Board of Directors lead by club president, Mari Colacino, identified a small core group of our players to form a "Schools/Juniors" committee. Together they developed a plan to raise money, purchase equipment, identify and train volunteer club members who assist our professional instructors. Over time our club members started reaching out to friends and friends or friends involved in our local schools at all levels to seek out teachers and identify school physical education programs that expressed some interest in pickleball. Sounds easy enough right? About as easy as hitting a successful around-the-post pickleball shot! The group of PE teachers that came out to our courts on that hot November afternoon had a great time learning what pickleball is all about. To a person they expressed a sincere desire to teach our great sport to their students. Our committee hopes to continue its good work into the new year by expanding our youth programs i the district and beyond. The $1100 we raised were used to purchase w24 paddles, four portable nets, dozens of balls and a portable storage box to be circulated and used by our schools in Indian River County. Our club's mission now is to grow and strengthen our partnership with the school district and together pass our love of this great sport onto the students. Our vision is to have every child be able to learn how to play pickleball. It is a sport that can be played for a lifetime! No comments: Email This BlogThis! Share to Twitter Share to Facebook Share to Pinterest Wednesday, October 17, 2018 Pickleball comes to Pinedale Published October 17, 2018 - www.dothaneagle.com Members of the Enterprise Parks and Recreation Department made a stop at Pinedale on Oct. 16 to introduce students to pickleball, a unique sport that combines elements of tennis, badminton and table tennis. According to Enterprise Parks and Recreation Programs Coordinator Guillian Hunt, the department began offering pickleball as an activity last year and it has gained popularity since. She said this is part of an initiative to introduce the sport to students at local schools as an alternative to typical sports such as basketball, football and baseball. “I learned pickleball when I was in physical education classes in Virginia, and it was something different from all the sports you were doing over and over, every day, each year,” Hunt said. “It ended up being something that my whole family enjoyed and became a great family sport for us.” CLICK HERE to read more. No comments: Email This BlogThis! Share to Twitter Share to Facebook Share to Pinterest Wednesday, September 12, 2018 Green Cove Springs serves pickleball program to public Published September 12, 2018 - www.news4jax.com GREEN COVE SPRINGS, Fla. - Twice a week inside Thomas Hogans Memorial Gym laughter and cheering can be heard against the rhythmic pop of racquetball-style paddles lobbing what looks like large ping-pong balls over a tennis net. It’s the sound of Green Cove Springs swinging into the growing sport of pickleball. Pickleball is a combination of tennis, badminton and ping-pong. It’s played on a tennis court with smaller boundaries, and players use a large paddle to hit a large, yellow plastic ball with holes over the tennis net to gain points. The program is led by Green Cove Springs Parks and Recreation Program Director Glee Glisson, a competitive pickleball player. With Tim Murphy, music minister of First Baptist Church in Middleburg, Glisson has competed and won several pickleball tournaments in both age and skill level brackets. “If you want to be competitive, you can do it at all levels,” said Glisson. “You can play this sport as easy as you want or as competitive as you want.” CLICK HERE to read more. No comments: Email This BlogThis! Share to Twitter Share to Facebook Share to Pinterest Thursday, September 6, 2018 Pickleball Pride in Hiawassee, GA The 68th year of the "Hiawassee Parade" kicked off on July 21, 2018 with the theme of "Hometown Pride." Over 70 players from the Georgia Mountain Pickleball Club participated and the awesome float can be viewed on YouTube here . On the float, you will see the "pickle" and "ball" characters waving at the crowd and promoting the sport as we move along the route towards the fairgrounds.We had many that volunteered for this float project and worked numerous hours to get it completed on time. Beth McCoy had a vision and worked tirelessly on the entire project for weeks, including making her own "Ball" costume! She was the driving force behind the project. Many others volunteered numerous hours----Dean McCoy, Blake Harper, Virginia Steiner (dance coordinator), Tammy Lentini, Mark Petty and Eddie Palmer as the "pickle." As always, our Ambassador, John Hall who devotes an enormous amount of time for all things pickleball in Towns County participated in every aspect, including walking the 2 miles with the float to the parade end. The small demo net that was pulled behind the float for demonstrating the sport was a classic, thanks to Blake Harper. We also had 70 players that donated their time to walk with the float and interact with the parade goers the entire 2 miles on a hot July day. Unfortunately, we didn't place in the contest for best float, but no one had more energy or volunteers then the pickleball float! Since the parade, we have had new players flocking to the courts on Saturday mornings for the novice classes. That is what you call "pickleball success!" CLICK HERE to read more. No comments: Email This BlogThis! Share to Twitter Share to Facebook Share to Pinterest Saturday, August 18, 2018 Welter, teammates earn pickleball gold medals in Ohio, Michigan Published August 17, 2018 - www.cape-coral-daily-breeze.com Cape Coral resident Mike Welter participated in the Michigan Senior Olympics in pickleball this past weekend. He won gold in singles and gold in mixed doubles with Nancy Robertson of Naples and took bonze with Glenn Geda of Michigan. Last month Welter participated in the Ohio State Senior Games and took gold in singles and gold in mixed doubles with North Fort Myers resident Bobbi Little, and took silver with Denny Vincent of Columbus, Ohio, and a part-time resident of Naples. These games were both qualifiers for the National Senior Games in June, 2019, in Albuquerque, New Mexico. CLICK HERE to read more. No comments: Email This BlogThis! Share to Twitter Share to Facebook Sh...