News

PPA/Design: Alex Brooks

Carolina Hurricanes owner Tom Dundon is uniting two of the major organizations behind a growing sport: pickleball. The NHL team owner’s Dundon Capital Partners is buying the Pro Pickleball Association and Pickleball Central. The deal for Pickleball Central includes the company’s retail business and the professional event tracking site. “The sport of pickleball grew by 20% last year and now counts over 4 million participants in the U.S.,” said Pickleball Central CEO and co-founder David Johnson. “The investment also provides a multi-million dollar commitment to enhance and extend the capabilities of the Pickleball Tournament’s state-of-the-art technology platform,” the company shared in a statement. The paddle sport exploded in popularity during the pandemic, particularly among players 65 and older. Cities have been building dedicated pickleball courts or allowing players to repurpose tennis courts. Pickleball is played on a 20-by-44-foot court (a tennis court is 36-by-78-feet and can accommodate multiple pickleball games).

https://www.facebook.com/groups/405576986201162

If you had gym class in school, the teacher probably told you there are life lessons to be learned from playing sports. You learn how to succeed or fail with grace, the value of humility, the benefits of sharing, how to build your confidence, and so on. (Although, what getting hit in the face with a dodgeball is supposed to teach, other than pain, is hard to say.)

What about money? Does the ability of sports to impart knowledge extend to investing? In the game of pickleball, it just might.

https://www.kiplinger.com/investing/602541/what-pickleball-can-teach-you-about-investing

If you've ever dinked in the kitchen, you probably already understand the allure of one of America's fastest growing sports. And if you haven't, you'd better paddle-up because sooner or later somebody is going to invite you to join a game of pickleball.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-56324048

Rapidly becoming a racquet sport favorite, pickleball serves up various physical,  mental and social benefits.   Click here to learn more. 

https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/the-powerful-play-of-pickleball

How the Game Got Its Name: Pickleball is an
unusual name for the sport we all love so we wanted to let some of the families
who were actually there tell the story for themselves of how the game got its
name. Travel with us now back to Bainbridge Island once again for this fun
episode of Pickleball 411 and learn from founder Barney McCallum the story
behind how the game got its name. Also hear first hand from Dick Brown, one of
the four original men who helped develop the sport, and was actually in the
room when they came up with the name pickleball.   

Click Here for the full story!

Hello APCers,

If you weren't already aware, APC members receive a 5% discount when purchasing anything on the Pickleball Central website:  https://www.pickleballcentral.com/default.asp. 

In addition to the 5% discount to the customer, APC will also get 5% credited to their account for purchase of pickleball supplies (balls, nets, etc.).

Thanks very much to Joy Goldberg for her efforts in setting this up and for her continued support to the Club.

Pickleball has made the Today Show!  Click the link below to watch the segment!

Click Here for Pickleball on the Today Show!

Click here to see why a 72 year old man is traveling to prisons to promote Pickleball!

Thanks Rick Benton for the News!

Since the last update, APC continues to evolve, with now over 625 active members!  

The summer evening league is in full swing at PAL park.  Heat not withstanding, players converge on Tuesday and Thursday evenings, leveraging our permit with the AA county, to play competitive, yet fun games.  Thanks to Ed Woods for coordinating, and Danielle Kaczensky, Ben Torreon, and others for supporting both the league operation, and after play socials. We are especially happy for our members who still have careers, offering a league opportunity that they can take advantage of in the evening. 

Speaking of AA County, APC has received word that the two tennis courts at Bestgate Park will soon undergo renovation and be lined with four additional pickleball courts!  Stay tuned for more details.  Thanks to Kristin Schwitzer and Frank Quigley for helping nurture along our partnership with the county.  More court capacity for APC is a good thing!

Based of the support of Nick Passagno, and many APC volunteers, our kids clinics are off to a great start.  Several others are planned with volunteers needed.  This is a great example of APC outreach.  

Stay tuned to email notifications to sign up for the third edition of the APC ladder league, which plays on Tuesday’s. Our league fills up very quickly.  Sign up on the website begins at 12 noon on August 8, 2019.  

APC is also starting a new novice/beginner league!  This will enable newer players to play fun and competitive games.  Sign up for this league will commence at 12 noon on August 10, 2019.  

Permanent lines will soon be painted on basketball court #1 at PIP Moyer.  Thanks to Nick for his continued hard work with the PIP relationship.

Per the APC bylaws, the board has created a nominating committee to identify candidates for board positions that will need to be filled in 2020.  The board has asked Marshall Steele to chair the committee, with Kristin Schwitzer and Jack Evans as committee members. This committee will commence their activities shortly. 

The APC website, coordinated by Tom Shupe, is the main location regarding information of the clubs operations.  The site is utilized to conduct surveys, communicate play times and locations, enable registrations for league, clinic, and social events, among other things. You can find contact information for every APC member who provided it. The board posts minutes of all board meetings to establish a new level of transparency, ensuring every club member, who takes the time to review them, understands what is being discussed.  The forums exists to enable Q&A, and comments from members.  

All the best!

Tony

Read the latest update from our USAPA Ambassador, Kristin Schwitzer by clicking here!