Sunday, December 13, 2015

President’s Message 2015-2016

The Pickleball Club at Rincon Country West is beginning light Club activities in December 2015, but will be in full winter season swing commencing January 1, 2016.

During the month of December, open play for all Rincon West residents, both Club members and non- members will be available until 10:30 every day of the week. After 10:30 the Club may make use of some or all of the available courts depending on Club activities. Also  introductory lessons are provided at 10:30 on Monday for all interested players.

There are currently only 4 courts of our total of 8 available for play as the Club is working with Rincon management to repair the original 4 courts.

For the month of December 2015 all persons who are residents may participate in any activity at the pickleball courts, without being club members. Residents & non-residents who wish to join the Club early are encouraged to pay Club membership dues to Mike Wood or Sally Lyddon.

Our limited Club activities for December will include introductory lessons on Monday morning and informal Round Robins on Tuesday & Friday. All of these activities will begin at 10:30 am, and, until January 1, you will only need to show up and indicate your interest in participating.

We will be hosting a beginning of season Social Wednesday, January  6 from 4-6 pm in the Rally Room for all interested persons, both members and non-members.  All other social functions for the season which includes Pot Luck, Brat and Beverages courtside will be “members only” Pickleball Club activities.

Residents who join the Pickleball Club can also enjoy, if they choose Round Robins, Shootouts, a Tournament plus on going Skills and Drills(who doesn’t want to get better?) and other coaching activities. 

Non-residents, other than those coming as guests of members who wish to participate in any of these activities at the Rincon pickleball courts will need to join the Club. 

Residents who are only interested in Open play are still encouraged to join the Pickleball Club. Your membership also supports the game of pickleball at RCW , provides the balls that are used and the paddles to get started. 

Our Club membership fees are $10 for residents for up to 1 month, and $15 for the season. For non-residents our membership fee is $25.

Michael Brandon, President/Sally Lyddon, Acting President


Sunday, December 6, 2015

Schedule of Play for December 2015 ONLY

Shown below is the chart for play at the Rincon Country West Pickleball courts for December 2015 ONLY.

As most players have not returned yet, and as we are just getting going now, there will only be two informal Round Robins on Tuesday and Friday at 10:30 am, and the Beginner Lesson at 10:30 on Monday.

Courts are available for Open Play as described with the schedule at all other times and unused courts during scheduled events can also be used for Open Play.


Friday, April 3, 2015

The Pickleball Blues

Richard Shine a 3.5 player from Robson Ranch has written a song called "The Pickleball Blues".  It is the Blues, because he says in the song that he was dropped by his partner.  It is, of course, not a true story, since Richard and his partners both male and female did not do too badly in the recent tournament at Robson Ranch in March 2015.

It is however a catchy song that I hope will appeal to you.



Enjoy.

Thursday, March 19, 2015

President's Report 2015 AGM - March 9, 2015

The Following is the annual report presented to the members in attendance at the Annual General Meeting of the Rincon Country West Pickleball Club, held on site on March 9, 2015.

Rincon Country West
Pickleball Club
Annual General Meeting
President’s Report March 9, 2015
Last March we started up the Rincon Country West Pickleball Club.  It began as an idea to separate pickleball from tennis, bocce, and basketball, so that we could focus on the needs of our pickleball venue and on pickleball players.

Our first order of business was to establish a set of Bylaws for the club, and to elect a Board of Directors.  The Bylaws are available online on our web presence, which many of you have accessed during the year.  The first Board of Directors was presented as a slate of officers that was accepted by the first official club meeting.  It is composed of Michael Brandon President,  Sally Lyddon, Don Heimke, and Bert Coates as Vice Presidents, Dave Lyddon as Secretary,  Mike Wood as Treasurer, and Allan Schreiber as Director of Communications.

All have agreed to stand for reelection except for Dave Lyddon, and as of me speaking to you there are no additional nominees, though we will accept additional nominees to fill all positions, though we are most in need of a Secretary to replace Dave, as he retires from the Board.

Our next and most important order of business was to work with Rincon Management to secure an additional 4 courts, which have been great, and have gotten lots of play.  They are as good as the courts that many of us have played on at other locations, and will serve us well for many years to come.

Also, of importance to us was refurbishment of the old courts regularly, which are used daily as well.  We understood that Rincon would repair and resurface the courts, but this was not completed before the season began.  and as we work on the repairs I will mention below we will get even more use out of them.

As you may recall, we committed to charging membership fees, rather than doing a spaghetti dinner, our logic being that the amount of work being done by the few was not valued by the whole.  As well, we invited others from outside the park to join with the approval of Rincon Management.  

To date we have had over 100 members, many for the season but some for shorter periods.  Of the 100 members, less than 20% are outsiders but they have partaken of Rincon hospitality, which was our aim.  I had hoped that we might have a greater influx of outsiders to improve the quality of play, and grow our club more quickly, but instead we have worked on ways to grow more internally, which I will describe in a few moments.

For Rincon guests that wanted to participate in club activities, but were only staying a few days, we offer a 1 week free membership to let them play during club activity time.  For Rincon residents who did not want to participate in club activities, but just wanted to hit the ball or play games with their friends, we allow them to use unused courts at any time, and provide them with balls for their play, and access to club paddles.

It was our original intention to run a major tournament, but the state of the original courts is not up to the standards required for a major tournament, and we did not have the critical mass to pull off such a venture.

So, instead we ran a Shootout, which is a particular style of competitive play, in November, and invited in close to 20 quality players from the various locations around Tucson to play, and to stay after for brats and beverages.  My wife and I ran and paid for this event personally, because we were unsure of how it would end up, and did not want to burden the club, if it turned out to be a harebrained idea.  As it was, it was a success.

On February 18, 2015, we ran a small invitational tournament.  We had 46 players in the event of which about 34 were from outside the park.  This tournament was an opportunity for our club members to see what it takes, as even a small tournament has all the elements of a larger one.  Club members stepped up and it came off without any major snags.  Again we concluded with brats and beverages.  We received good reviews from the participants.  

Then on February 25, we ran an internal club tournament.  Part of the reason for doing the invitational first was because the players invited are regular tournament players and they helped us with refereeing and making it run smoothly, which gave us hands on experience.

The internal club tournament had about 30 players, all club members, involved, and we again played a shootout format, which worked well as we were able to arrange for players to play with others at their own skill level, meaning nobody lost or won by such large margins as to discourage themselves or the other players.

Once again, we ended with brats and beverages, setting up the Rincon barbecue at the putting green, and eating in the shade there.

Most tournaments on the circuit here in Southern Arizona are much larger, typically three day events or more, and do not refocus on the social aspect of a meal on conclusion.  We hope to leverage this further in future years, as our approach has been well received.

These 3 events are not all we have done to engage members.  Each of them was challenging from an organizational perspective, but was able to be executed in a matter of a few weeks of planning and volunteer execution.

As well, we have had occasional shootouts and Round Robin events, but the demand for them is more limited, and they take additional volunteer resources that have not been available yet to us.  By this I mean less that there are not people who could do the work, than that we are too inexperienced to be able to delegate much of the work until we had seen it and done it ourselves.

The most important thing we have been doing to grow the club is introducing new people to the park to the game, and providing training and skills development for those who are now playing here.  The members of the Board all noticed that the calibre of play during our in house tournament was significantly increased over the beginning of the year.  This may be where we are best able to attract outside members as well, by providing a training venue for them during our winter season.

One of our Vice President's Bert Coates has been running new player lessons regularly, and we have introduced 30-40 new folks or so to the game this year.  As well John Szabo has been providing instruction to those who are not far along in the game at the original courts most every morning.  Both have volunteered many hours to our members, and to those who have shown an interest in the game, but are undecided on their commitment to playing with the club.

As well, we have been running Skills and Drills sessions twice a week, to teach some of the game nuances to those who are further along in their pickleball journey.  Further, John Szabo and I often meet in the afternoons with players eager to improve their skills and work on skill development for a few hours at a time.

What might still come as a surprise to many of you is that we have also introduced many players to using the boards at the new tennis courts to work on swing and shot techniques.  This has made for an inexpensive method of training.

Where the old courts used to see play 3 times per week for 2-2 1/2 hours, we now play every day on all 8 courts, with Drop in play in the morning and more advanced Open play in the afternoon.  Many folks who have bought into our concepts of practicing to get better are coming to a court when it is empty and practicing with friends.

Many of the Board and Club members have stepped up to meet needs of the club.  We have borrowed screens that we have placed on the dog park end of the new courts, and have added plastic tile covers, which we purchased, over the exposed fencing separating the new courts as a safety measure.

When Palm Creek Pickleball Club was expanding this year, Bert Coates arranged for them to give us some of their older equipment, and we combined that with our own sign boards, including a sandwich board which we use to keep members informed of happenings in the club.

We had requested that the original courts be upgraded with new nets, and winders, and that they be resurfaced prior to the start of our current season.  This could not fit the budget and so we decided to do our best to help improve them.  We requested the purchase of new nets and winders, and planned their implementation.  Park workers were helpful but with the busyness of the season are not really available to make these changes for us.  So, we took it on ourselves and the installation of the new nets was completed on March 1.

Don Heimke and John Szabo in particular spent countless hours figuring out how to use the existing posts, and implement the new winders and nets into them.  The result is that the courts, though in need of resurfacing are far more professional looking and playable.

A number of our players have started to play in tournaments on the Southern Arizona winter circuit, and we hope that more will step up to the interesting and fun challenge of playing at other venues.

One of our areas of focus this year was to bring outside players in to the park as guests from time to time, and to play and be members of the club if they chose.  Some of them have just come, played and left, which is not unlike resident members in general.  But some of them are interested in helping us out with the club, and we intend to embrace their skills and eagerness, along with that of resident members.

A small number of resident members complained that we were charging the non residents the same amount for fees as the residents.  Accordingly, we adjusted the resident fee downward, since we had already committed in writing to the $20 annual fee for members, and did not feel it appropriate to change it.

The fees charged are a responsibility of the Board, not open for debate or open discussion.  If you have selected a Board to act on your behalf, then you must allow them to do so.  We did listen to members concerns in an number of areas, and as it related to nonresident members adjusted the rate somewhat and will decide on rates for future years, and even whether we will include nonresident members.

The Bylaws allow for paid up members to have a vote for Directors.  The Bylaws did not exclude nonresident members from voting and prior to the presentation of this report, we made a slight amendment to the Bylaws after waiving the 30 day notice requirement of the Bylaw regarding a proposed change.  Non Resident members are now officially precluded from voting at the Annual General Meeting.

So, where are we going from here?

We attempted to organize play time to allow for regular daily events, and for Open play for more advanced players.  For openers we are still too small for this to be effective, but we are in need of adding some committees reporting to the Board to help us run things more smoothly and be more diversified in our use of volunteer resources.

We need a Memberships Committee.  Memberships were handled by Sally Lyddon and Mike Wood, and should really be handled by a small, but nimble Memberships Committee.  That committee would focus on recruiting members, setting fee schedules for the approval of the Board, and ensuring that members have the proper identification cards for their status.

One area we were starting work on but the effort required was greater than the available resources is Competition.  A Competition Committee would oversee scheduling of play and events, including Drop In Play, Open and Event Play (like Round Robins, Shootouts, and Rated Play), and In House and Invitational tournaments.  Since the Competition Committee would be in charge of scheduling, it would also ensure proper scheduling for training sessions.  It is important that scheduling satisfies those who just want to play, and those who want to elevate their game.  Both Rob Silver and Bill Brown have indicated an interest in helping us out with this area.

Another requirement is for a Training Committee.  We started doing some beginner and skills training last year, and expanded it this year.  However, there is a need between beginners and more advanced players, and we could more properly define what skills will be taught at the various levels. John Szabo, Bert Coates and I have been involved in our training efforts, with John being available almost daily to help new players and assisting me with Skills and Drills training.  Bert has handled scheduled beginner training, also assisted by John Szabo. The committee would ensure that those involved in education have what resources they need to be successful, and that expectations of members and educators are managed.

We have done a lot of Facilities work this year, and a Facilities Committee would help us to work on what needs to be done, and get appropriate work crews together as required. We actually did pretty well, all things considered, but were a bit more reactive than would be good going forward. 

Bert Coates did yeoman service securing a shed for us, and cadging things from Palm Creek to help us organize ourselves at the courts.  As I stated earlier Don Heimke and John Szabo again were the brains and brawn behind our new nets and winders being installed on the original courts.  The  Facilities Committee would manage our physical facilities including ordering balls and paddles, cleaning and maintenance equipment, and court quality, including working with RCW management to ensure original courts are brought up to reasonable play standards.

Additionally, we need a committee to handle communications.  Allan with some assistance from me has done his best to keep folks informed, but there are gaps between what should be communicated and what we have been able to do.  The articles for our web presence have almost all been produced by me, and as you can tell if you have looked lately, it was far easier to create content when I was back in Canada than it is here in the thick of things.

We have a Facebook page which has basically no content on it, and is in need of someone to take it on.  We need to make a move to a specific RCW Pickleball Club email address, and that is not a 5 minute job so would be part of the responsibilities of the Communications Committee.

And finally, but not low on the totem pole, would be a Social Committee.  The Social Committee would manage our pot luck and other social events, including the social aspect of tournaments.  We had an excellent pot luck, a good early social event, great food and drinks at our tournaments.  The Social Committee would help put those things together, sharing the work load, and the fun.

I will now open the floor for any questions on matters raised in my report.

We will then hear from Mike Wood as to our Finances for the year.


Next, we need to fill our Board of Directors.  I received no nominations for filling any of the board positions, and so we need nominations for Board elections are now open,.

Pickleball at Rincon Country West RV Resort for Club Members and Non Members

We have been feeling our way along about how to build pickleball here at Rincon Country West RV Resort, so that it will become attractive to residents, and to people looking for a resort that offers pickleball.  Our primary response to this requirement was the creation of and ongoing expansion of the Rincon Country West Pickleball Club.

Although we believe that it might be in the best interest of all pickleball players with the programs we are running and expanding upon, we are aware also that residents must have the opportunity to play pickleball without being required to join the pickleball club. 

As we have created some confusion ourselves in our efforts to improve opportunities for play and for skill development, and have hurt some feelings along the way, we have documented what playing pickleball here at RCW means for club members and for non members, including guests.

The following is being posted at the sign boards by each set of courts to clarify access to the facilities, and to paddles and balls for members and for non members.  We have also provided this to RCW management and to the Activities Office so that there is a clear and common voice about how the needs of members and non members/guests are to be met regarding pickleball participation.
Rincon Country West RV Resort has 8 pickleball courts provided by the resort for the enjoyment of residents, their guests and for the use of the Rincon Country West Pickleball Club.  These courts are available for play, both organized club play for Rincon Country West Pickleball Club members and for individual use of residents.
The Resort has an organized pickleball club, The Rincon Country West Pickleball Club which has scheduled play and activities, including Drop in Play, Open Play, tournaments, and Round Robin/Shootout events, and training sessions for new players, ongoing training support, and Skills and Drills for more advanced players. 
All of the above activities, except for training sessions for new players are limited to club members. 
Non Member Residents and their guests, wishing to play pickleball at RCW are not required to join the RCW Pickleball Club. However, during those times when the courts are reserved for Club activities, nonmembers may play only on courts not being used by club members.  So, if for example, 6 courts are in use for Drop in Play, then non members may make use of the remaining two courts.  In the event that all courts are in use for club activities or become in use during scheduled club times, then non members may have to cede their use of the courts at that particular time only. 
When there are no club activities scheduled, then non members can use any available court, and no priority exists for club members. 
Non members may also make use of loaner paddles stored in the metal cabinets by each set of courts and the club pickleballs that are in the ball holders on any court they play on.  Additionally, non members participating in a new player lesson may use club owned paddles for that time period. 
The purpose of the RCW Pickleball Club is to promote the game of pickleball, safety in play, and skill development in the game of pickleball.  We do this through the various activities mentioned above.  In particular we have a number of members who are available to help members with their game, including advice on techniques and drills to improve. 
To allow those who are unsure whether they wish to participate in the club, we have a program that allows first time players to come on one occasion as guests of the Club to play during Drop in Play, which is on the schedule on the notice boards at the new courts.  Players may in addition attend a new player session, if they choose.
If players are still unsure whether they wish to participate in the RCW Pickleball Club, we provide a 1 week free membership to further look the club over, before deciding whether to commit to being a member of the club. 
At any time prior to the completion of the free week, players may choose to join for a month or for the club year, which begins November 1, and ends on April 30 of the following year.  Our membership fees for in park residents are $10 per month, and $15 for the balance of the club year. 
If players do not wish to participate in the club, then they are free to use the courts as described above for non members, and to use club paddles and balls made available for their use.
We acknowledge that this attempt to clarify how members and non members are to interact at the pickleball courts may still be incomplete and may require further clarification.  In the event that this document still causes concerns, please feel free to address the concerns directly with a board member of the club or by emailing the President, Michael Brandon directly at mbrandon8026@gmail.com.


Monday, March 16, 2015

In House Tournament Shootout at the Rincon Corral Part Deux

Pardon the delay in reporting on the results of our second tournament, the Members Only event held on February 25, 2015.

For this event, we had 29 members signed up, which all agree was pretty good for a first time event. If you did not sign up and did not play, you missed a fun time.  But, we will do it again next year, with hopefully more participation.

Since most players did not sign up with a partner, and we did not have occasion to match people up, our format was to play shootouts, where each player in a pool played with each other player in the pool as their partner.

For Women's play we had two pools of 4, as we did for Men's 3.0 and 3.5.  Each player in each pool had each other player in their pool as their partner for one game, and we recorded the score for each individual in each game.  In these categories, the first 2 from each pool played in a new pool, in the same format to find winners.  Those who finished 3rd and 4th in the pools were also paired for a runner up pool.

For Men's 2.5 we had 5 players and so played a double Round Robin Shootout in that group.

One thing I particularly noticed as I was refereeing Women's games mainly was that the quality of play has grown this year.  Others observed the same with the Men's groups as well.

In Women's play, Shelley Lang was the eventual winner, followed by Mary Craig, Kathy Hughes and Deb Holtkamp.  The other participants and order of finish were Sally Lyddon, Bonnie Howarde, Chris Ferrell, and Fay Austin.

In Men's 2.5 play the winner was Rick Chase, ahead of Keith Hawking.  Ralph Siedel who had stepped in to fill a hole, Bob Hughes and Jerry Baddgor,   In this group, it was obvious that time had been spent on the boards working on shots, and in practicing, as the skill improvement from the first of the season was significant.

The 3.0 Men's winners pool was won by Al Strom, followed very closely by Phil (Coach) Roach. Chuck Barela and Jim Craig were not that far behind them.  The runner up pool was won by Bill Wiethern, followed by Powell Clinton, Dve Bezaire, and Jim Harris.

The 3.5 Men had some interesting games, and the level of short game play was significantly greater than earlier in the year.  Bob McCormick, the USAPA Ambassador from Sedona AZ, won over Ron Garwood, Rob Silver and Ken Zacharias.  In the Runner up pool, Bert Coates won, followed by Bill Brown and Mike Wood in a tie, with Bruce Gluski 1 point behind.

As with other events, we concluded with a barbecue of brats, served with condiments, salad stuff and cold beverages on the putting greens.

If my observation is correct, everyone had a good time, and we can expect more of the same next year.

In the interim, Rob Silver and a small group are working to arrange for some more shootouts, with the first one being Wednesday, March 18, at 1 pm.  Please sign up at the courts.


Saturday, February 21, 2015

All Survived the Shootout at the Rincon Corral Part 1

On Wednesday February 18, 2015, we held our first Shootout at the Rincon Corral Part 1.  It was arranged on relatively short notice, but we were able to have 23 teams in attendance in 4 categories.

It was the first event of even this magnitude that the Rincon Country West Pickleball Club had planned and executed.  We did most things well, but with the exuberant volunteers and experience that most of the players had from larger tournaments we were able to keep things in line, as people picked up the slack for us as we went along.

We promise to do even better next year, and are grateful for all the support we received.

Women's 

We had 8 teams for women's play, but there was not a good way to split them up into separate brackets, so we played them in two pools and then had playdowns to get tot the actual winners.

The team of Barb Didonato and Suzanne Nordhagen won first place as they prevailed over Carol Armstrong and Bernadette Bruner, who were second.  Darin Frazier and Margaret Livingstone beat out Gina Riehl and Sandy Black for third place.

The picture below shows the champions in action.

Barb Didonato and Suzanne Nordhagen
Sally Lyddon referees.



Men's 3.0

In Men's 3.0 we had only 3 teams so all teams placed.  Bill Weithern and Jim Craig of Rincon were in second in the Round Robin portion of the tournament, but Phil Wild and Duane Wonacott, who had failed to win a game in the Round Robin section found their stride and knocked Bill and Jim down to third place in the elimination round.

In the championship games. Curt Putman and Gaylon Waynar kept up their winning ways and knocked off the challengers in straight games.
Curt Putman returns a shot.  You can see Gaylon's Right foot in the bottom corner of the picture.  We wanted to show his best side

Men's 3.5

Men's 3.5 turned into a Rincon tussle, as 5 of the 6 teams were in house teams, and the 6th team had signed up as 3.0s, but somehow the Tournament Director missed putting them in 3.0, so they had to struggle through the 3.5 pool.  I have since given me a piece of my mind for that oversight.

The team of Ron Garwood and Rob Silver sailed through the Pool play wining all 5 of their games.  Don Heimke and Randy Ferrell ran into only one wall, the aforesaid Garwood/Silver team, and they ended up meeting in the final match.  John Grahame and Bob McCormick were only beaten by the above two teams, and ended up in third place.

In the final, Garwood/Silver took the first game of a 2/3 match 11-7, but Don Heimke and Randy Ferrell pulled off 12-10 and 11-3 victories in the end to take the title.
Randy Ferrell approaches the net after returning serve where Don Heimke is waiting.

Ron Garwood hits a return with Rob Silver beside him at the net.

Men's 4.0

Men's 4.0 play had 3 teams from Green Valley who ended up taking the top 3 spots.  Mike Clemens won our Fall Shootout, and was not disappointed when he left on Wednesday as he and his partner Gary Stagner won the event.

Mike Didonato and his partner Bill McCartney, a fellow Canadian, sailed through the Round Robin undefeated, bust must have used up their Mojo, as they were defeated in the semi finals by Clemens/Stagner.

Lee Nordhagen and Doug Cook had lost only to Didonato/McCartney in Round Robon play, and beat Bill Reynolds and Rick Hanson of Saddlebrook Ranch in the other semi final, setting up the all Green Valley final of Nordhagen/Cook against Clemens/Stagner.

In the final, Mike and Gary won this time convincingly 11-2, 11-6.

Mike Clemens and Gary Stagner in action.  Winners of thee 4.0 Bracket

Doug Cook and Lee Nordhagen, second place finishers

David Cooke practicing his ballet at the Non Volley Zone line.  He actually did not fall into the kitchen area.


Post Prandial Brats/Beer

When the games were all but concluded, the top notch chef team led by Allan Schreiber and Powell Clinton performed the manly ritual of burning meat on an open flame, while cracking open cold ones. Players and friends gathered around the barbecue on the putting greens and swapped stories of pickleball prowess and personal legendry.

As near as I can tell, we made limited errors in setting up and running the tournament, though we can do better and go bigger next year, and look forward to it.

I noticed that people were leaving with full stomachs and smiles, indicating that a good time was had by all.

Thank you one and all for your help in running the tournament and for participating in it.

Hope to see you all and many more next year for a bigger event.

This funny eared curmudgeon is Bert Coates, head referee and Vice President of the RCW Pickleball Club.  We take pickleball seriously here at RCW.


Regards

Michael Brandon
Tournament Director
Shootout at the Rincon Corral Part 1