An email went out to last season’s pickleball club members.
September 13, 2024
Hello Silveridge Pickleballers!
Summer is flying by, and I hope this update finds you well and probably thinking about soon traveling to Silveridge. I am counting the days until Tim and I arrive on October 28th (weather permitting)!
Last season ended on April 5, 2024, and the Executive Committee has met six times over the summer. Monday, October 28th is when our pickleball club’s 2024-25 season officially begins with organized play!
The first Executive Committee summer meeting was held via Zoom in May where we reviewed the Annual General Meeting survey results and discussed our observations of how last season went. This prepared us for establishing our vision for the club and what we wanted to accomplish for next season. Some activities will remain the same and some new ideas are coming forward.
We have a brand-new large shed beside court #3 at the end of the resort’s maintenance shed. All our pickleball club items can be stored at this one location (and not scattered at various executive committee personal units).
On August 8th, I posted a picture of the pickleball courts, #1 to 4, on the Silveridge Connect Facebook page. The new permanent fences were installed and look great! This was only one of the improvements completed by the Silveridge Resort this summer. There were improvements at the gazebo shared by mini-golf and pickleball when 150 sq feet of pavers were installed to enlarge and level the surrounding area and the wooden shed built between two of the gazebo posts will be removed and a shed will be placed there to store mini-golf and pickleball items; the loose fence post at court #5 has been repaired; and the loose fencing around the bottom of the fence perimeter of the courts 1 to 4 will be attached to the concrete. George Igualt indicated a newer model water fountain will be installed.
We have eliminated the beginner’s skill level 1, which will be rolled into skill level Group 2.
Barry Halpenny has offered to facilitate two Rules Review Sessions. Stay tuned for dates and times.
Clinics and Tournaments: Julie Nosko, has been busy putting together a clinic schedule, which has two clinics for each skill level group. Back by popular demand are the David Ott drill sessions in 2025. Stay tuned for more information – THANK YOU David! We will continue to have a King/Queen of the Court for each skill level. For the tournaments, we are trying a new format this season: a FUN MLP (Major League Play™) format with a Silveridge backspin! This format brings men and women together in a team structure. The team consists of 2 women and 2 men. Teams compete against each other in matches. A match consists of four games. The first two games are one women’s doubles game and one men’s doubles game played simultaneously and then two mixed doubles games played simultaneously. The teams will be asked to get creative in establishing a team name and costumes to wear. Yes, I did say FUN tournament and prizes will be given to best costume and tournament winners! The first MLP tournament (Group 3.25 to 4+) is scheduled for Saturday, November 23. So come check it out!
Court Schedule: Tom Drouillard, is responsible for establishing the court schedule and he did an awesome job putting the puzzle together. He presented some new ideas, while following our established criteria:
- Each week a group plays twice on courts 1-4 and twice on courts 5-8
- Each group has as much of a variety of time slots as possible
- Group 2.5 (our largest group) has access to 2 extra courts at least 3 times a week beginning in January
- Round robins will be played between 10 am and 4 pm
- Club All Play will continue to be six days a week from 7:30 am to 10 am. The new court schedule is on our website for your perusal: Court Schedule.
New court schedule ideas we are implementing are as follows (we look forward to your feedback once we get them going):
- Round Robin Group Play: when different skill level groups are scheduled to play at the same time (on different courts – 1 to 4 and 5 to 8) and have an opportunity to combine the groups to play together once a month.
- 1st Monday of the month Group 3.0 plays with Group 2.5 at 12pm
- 2nd Friday of the month Group 3.25 plays with Group 3.5 at 10am,
- 3rd Wednesday of the month Group 3.0 plays with Group 3.25 at 10am
- 4th Monday of the month Group 3.5 plays with Group 4+.
- The SignUpGenius (SUG) sign-up will indicate when groups play together. This will allow for mentoring, growing skill sets, experience with the upper group of players, and an added mix of competition and fun for all.
- Competitive Ladder Play once a week on Tuesdays at 12pm for groups 3.25 to 4+
- All Levels Round Robin on Wednesday evenings at 6pm
- Additional Mixed Doubles session added on Thursday evening at 6pm
- Additional ball machine times added
- Open Play on court 8, everyday from 7:30am to 10am for those visitors who don’t join the club and want to play pickleball in the morning
Moving Between Group Levels: Tom Drouillard has come up with a new format when members are wanting to move up to a new skill level. The format will be based on points accumulated (your game score) not on wins and losses. The Executive Committee believes this will work better and will monitor the new process. Stay tuned as more information will be communicated via our website, posters, Round Robin Captain meetings, etc.
Volunteers: Our membership has always excelled in volunteering. Whether as a Round Robin Captain or on other Committees, helping with social events and the basket raffles, assisting with a clinic or tournament, keeping the courts clean, or operating the ball machine, our members always step up when asked. THANK YOU! This year will be no different. We can’t hold clinics without volunteers or successfully trying a ladder play league without people to run them. If you are willing to help a little or a lot, please indicate on the membership form or approach an Executive Committee member. Apply your specific talents when and where you can. We arguably have the best pickleball club around - not simply because our members are so friendly and fun to play with, but also because of the numerous well-planned events our members can partake in every day of the week all season. Volunteers are needed to plan and run every one of those events and that is precisely where our members shine. Let’s keep it rolling! Please visit the SUG sign-ups for the different volunteer opportunities and sign-up for an event that fits your busy schedule.
Group 2 Mentoring Leader: We have created something new this year by implementing a mentoring leader for Group 2 (previously called Group 1&2). The leader will: assist the Group 2 round robin captains with determining the groups needs (mentoring at round robins, focus on skill development, etc.); seek for and assemble a group of skilled players to assist with Group 2 activities as needed, help new club members with club related questions, encourage participation in activities. Mike Savre has accepted this Group 2 Mentoring Leader position and will be looking for assistance from other members to assist in developing this enthusiastic group of players. THANK YOU, Mike!
Communication: In preparation for the busy season ahead, Kathy is busy creating documents, updating our website and SUG. New this year will be a “Calendar of Events” added to the website. It will be in a calendar format (you can toggle between calendar months) and see what pickleball club activities (social events, clinics, tournaments, paddle demo day, etc.) are planned and when.
Basket Raffle Donations: Time for our annual request asking you to bring something unique from your home area to donate for our basket raffles. Those raffles generate at least a third of our annual revenue and help pay for all the things the club provides its members. You don’t need to spend much, just bring something imaginative! Drop off the items to Betty Royal at lot #374.
Social Events: Our social committee will be hosting several fun social events this season and will start with a Season Opening BBQ on November 16th! Mark your calendar and visit the SUG sign-up to register your attendance at the BBQ. Throughout the season, you can check our “Events” page for upcoming events.
Membership: Complete the membership form when you arrive in Silveridge. Once your membership has been processed you will be added to SUG and receive a “Welcome to the Silveridge Pickleball Club” email. Then the fun begins!
I hope you made it to the end of this update, found it informative and I didn’t put you to sleep. 🙂
Safe travels and looking forward to seeing you soon!
Donna
Your Executive Committee:
Donna Stensrud, President
Julie Nosko, 1st VP
Tom Drouillard, 2nd VP
Kendra Jensen, Secretary
Debbie Nelson, Treasurer
Kathy Port, Communications Officer