I am very happy to announce that our club now has 176 USAPA members, thanks to our new members (list is posted under menu and at the courts) and great renewals this season. We are waiting on only 3 players to renew that are due in February and a handful that are due in March. I am also hoping that a few more of you will join this year.
I asked Earl Hill (he started the USAPA program) a question, which concerned some of our club members; Why aren't the Grand Canyon Games Sanctioned? The e-mail was responded to quickly and circulated to some of the top USAPA volunteers.
The predominate reason for the games not being sanctioned, was discussed in relationship to the insurance
requirement. to give you an idea as to insurance cost, for our Tier 3 tournament this year, we paid $75 as a club to have our tournament sanctioned and to receive this additional insurance. This will equal, 25 cents per player which is part of the Registration Fee. The following letter is from Bill Booth, current President of the USAPA
Hi Rosemary,
Your email has raised the question of the value of sanctioning tournaments.
More and more venues are requiring million-dollar liability policies for tournaments. If a tournament had to buy that insurance for a single tournament, it would cost about $600 or more for a single event. That requirement would be prohibitive for tournaments in many areas.
The USAPA pays about $6400 per year for Liability and Participant Accident Insurance for sanctioned tournaments. We only get about half of that back in sanctioning fees. We subsidize the rest. It is one of the many things that the USAPA does to promote pickleball and make tournaments possible in many areas of the country.
In addition, all U.S. and Canadian USAPA members receive secondary accident insurance up to $25,000 for medical expenses, with a $1,000 deductible, for injuries incurred while playing in a sanctioned tournament. When tournaments are not sanctioned, players are denied that benefit.
Even though we are fortunate that our venues in the Phoenix area have not required liability insurance, the sanctioning fee would go toward promoting tournaments on a nationwide basis. It would also provide the players an insurance benefit.
Some have said that tournament points are worthless. Many players don't feel that way. We know that because players complain loudly when we fail to apply points to a player. If the players value it, then it is not worthless. You could just as easily say that winning a match in a tournament is worthless. It doesn't have monetary value, it doesn't cure the sick, and it doesn't feed the hungry. And yet, players care about all of that. Winning, medals, and tournament points is what competition is all about. That is why players enter tournaments. Players are more likely to enter a sanctioned tournament than one that is not sanctioned.
Thanks for everything that you do to promote pickleball in Casa Grande. We have noticed that many memberships are "referred by Rosemary Reese." Your support helps us to subsidize insurance, provide training grants to introduce pickleball to new places and new players, and buy services that enable us to enhance media coverage. Those are some of the major things that the USAPA does to promote pickleball throughout North America.
The enthusiastic support of you and hundreds of other ambassadors is a major reason why pickleball is growing so fast. It is no accident that we are adding many new places to play, many new members, and many new players every month. The USAPA is pleased to provide the leadership and financial support that makes all of that happen.
Bill
I hope that the information above is giving you at least one more reason to join or renew your membership Today!
For your convenience, I have attached a link for the form, you can return it to me at the courts, or through intra park mail Site # 1310 - be sure to hand it in at the counter, not the slot or mailboxes
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