The tournament winter season has now ended

Congratulations!

Spring Slam at Sun City Medal Winners 

Al Hager and Carol Lindow

not shown

Marsha and Byron Freso

Don Simmons and David Zapatka

Welcome To Our New  Board

Donna Christiansen      President

Marg Ouimet                  Vice President

Roger Fellows               Treasurer

Kate Perrie                     Secretary

Ken Schaebethal           Member at Large

Jocelyn Barr                  Member at Large

Reed Cowen                  Member at Large

Donna Christiansen - Kate Perrie - Ken Schaebethal - Jocelyn Barr

Reed Cowen - Marg Ouimet - Roger Fellows

Thank You for your Service

             Suzie Nunley                 Gary Baker                        Les Scott

Robson Ranch Tournament

Congratulations!

Robson Ranch Tournament

Byron Freso - Carol Lindow - Marsha Freso - Al Hager

Maurice Parobec - Brenda and Dan Jmaeff

Not Shown: Randy Bourne - Sally Dobson -Theresa Orcutt - David Zapatka

Many of our club members participated in our last tournament in Casa Grande for the season. It seemed at any given time we had at least one of our club members volunteering to referee and serve as line judges.  Every court had Palm Creek members on hand as spectators, enjoying the games and cheering on our players.  When not at the courts, club members could easily be found enjoying lunch!

Complete list of Medal Winners for this season is posted under Club Information. 

Our First

Barbara Hillman and Maurice Parobec celebrated their love on March 18, 2015 with the exchange of their wedding vows. Family and Friends were in attendance to celebrate this joyful occasion.

Barbara Hillman and Maurice Parabec

with Matron of Honor and Best Man

Brenda and Dan Jmaeff 

 Officiated by Pastor Debbie

Best Wishes to Barbie

Congratulations to Maurice

Pickleball Rocks Club of the Month

So much to say about this club. We witnessed first hand why this is one of the largest and most active clubs on the planet. Everything they did for players, sponsors and vendors at their Duel in the Desert tournament was first class. But what got our final vote was the fact that 117 3.0 players came out to play in their great desert tournament. That is a testament that they are definitely doing things right to help pickleball grow. What a great host they will be for the Open events at NationalsVII. Congratulations Pickleball Rocks Club of the Month, Palm Creek Pickleball Club.

The Medal Winners ....

Congratulations !!!

Green Valley Senior Games

Marg Ouimet and Rosemary Nichol

Duel in the Desert

Theresa Orcutt - Gary Baker - Marsha Freso

not shown

Sally Dobson - Tim Dugger 

Fun in the Sun

Byron and Marsha Freso

not shown

Don Simmons

By the Numbers

A report of interesting facts were given by Bob VanderLinden at this months monthly meeting.
We had the 3rd Largest Tournament and the Largest Club Tournament!
Our new Tournament Name and Logo are a huge success.

50+ Volunteers Set Up the Tournament

230 Balls Used

235 cars parked daily

Meet and Greet

Attended by 240 players and volunteers

Attendees enjoy a Great Start to a Great Weekend

Before the Games Begin

Palm Creek Chorus

800 Cups of Coffee and Morning Snacks

Vicky MacDonald and Sandy Cowen

479 Players in 672 Matches

270 Men - 209 Women

Oldest Player 82 years old!

3.0 - 117 Players

3.5 - 148 Players

4.0 - 113 Players

4.5 - Gary Baker + Sally Dobson Bronze Medal Winners

42  Typical Tournament Medical Incidents

Marg Ouimet - Medical Coordinator

The Sponsorship Program and Design Work

helped kick the tournament up to a new level

The ice cream was a treat we all enjoyed!

John Robertson and Wanda Cassidy

The Raffle

46 Prizes Donated by 

our Generous Vendors and Club Members.  

Jim Nussbaum knows how to work the crowd!

 Photographers took 1,000's of pictures

Barb Schmidt

USAPA Table

Susan Kimbley and Cincy Nelson

 Ride For the Warriors

Ticket Sales - $765

Roger Fellows and Sharon VanderLinden

 Serving it up at the Beer Garden

LeRoy Schmidt - Reed Cowen - Jerri Sedio

152 Pizza'a

106 Bags of Ice

2500 bottles of water

230 Gatorades

102 cams of soda

Smiling Club Members

 Kathie Baker - AJ Fraties

Palm Creek General Manager and 

Our Tournament Director 

Lisa Harold and Bob VanderLinden

Tournament Volunteer Pary

Until Next Year

Let Freedom Fly

Here's the news!

Election results, 264 members voted

President - Donna Christiansen

Vice President - Marg Ouimet 

Katie Perrie - Secretary

At Large - Jocelyn Barr
                    Reed Cowen

A Candidate for President

COLIN CALDWELL

I realize that I've thrown my hat into the ring at this late stage in the elections and that I would be considered an underdog in the campaign process but I felt that the future of our club was important enough for me to declare my candidacy for the position of President of our club.

My experience and qualifications to be your President are as follows:

·         I worked for Bell Canada in Ontario, Canada for 34 years and held both technical and managerial positions

·         VP – Brantford Canadian Hearing Society

·         VP – Brantford Charities Association

·         VP – Canadian Pickleball Association

·         President – Canadian Pickleball Association

·         Tournament Director – Palm Creek Pickleball Club – I served as your tournament director for three years whereby I introduced sweeping changes to our tournament, including elevating our tournament to a Tier 2, introduction and implementation of online registration and computer operation of the tournament

·         Palm Creek Board of Directors – I served on the Board of Directors for three years

The next two years will be a challenge for us as a club with the USAPA Nationals and with future expansion planning with the management here at Palm Creek.  With my listed credentials with respect to my duties as your tournament director I believe I am, the best qualified to work hand in hand with the USAPA to manage our involvement with the Nationals.  With my listed expertise, I believe I am qualified to work on your behalf to coordinate our future efforts for improvements and additions to our courts. 

I ask only that you consider my qualifications and vote for whomever you feel is the best choice for you and the club.  There are many candidates running for a variety of positions and your vote is not only requested but also necessary to sustain our club.  I hope I can count on your support.

Colin Caldwell

THANK YOU

To Our Tournament Director Bob VanderLinden  and Our Tournament Committee
Karen Fellows, Chuck MacDonald, Roger Fellows and Les Scott.
This team started working on this year's tournaments last season and continued to work tirelessly throughout this season.
Thank you to all the volunteers, who signed on to clean and set up all the facilities, the volunteers who maintained the courts throughout the tournament, those who gave us opening ceremonies, provided fresh coffee every morning and fruit throughout the day, the referee desk and the countless referees and line judges, the ever ready medical team, the raffle team, the volunteers who worked the meet and greet's and the pizza event, for the rest of to enjoy these events, putting together the swag bags and the incredible sponsor program.  All the vendors were great and the ice cream, really made us all feel like kids again!
Our Tournament Committee and teams of volunteers, gave us once again a tournament that players and spectators alike enjoyed and an event that all Palm Creekers could be proud

From ALL of US

To ALL of YOU

Our Sincere Thanks

Over the next few days, photos  and fun tournament facts will be put on  he Blog

In Less than 24 Hours

Our Club Members will be competing to win the Gold

Be sure to come and cheer them on!

Friday Mar 6	Club Members	Time
Men's Doubles Skill Groups 3.0	See Sunday
Mixed Doubles Skill Groups 3.0	Hillman,Barbara	8:00
Men's Doubles Skill Groups 3.5	Foisy, Ed; Hoggatt,Jim; Bates,Harold; Cowen,Reed; Young,Bill; Rone,Randall; Weatherby,Joseph; Purvis,Ken; Pitzl,William; Raph, Lynn; Tetzlaff,Tom; Wight,David; Reynolds,Peter; Fischer,Steve; Hague,Ken	8:00
Men's Doubles Skill Groups 4.0	Robins,Morgan; Dahlen,Dennis; Costa,George; Bolton,Gordon; Richter,Marvin; Holloway,Barry; Scott,Les; VanderLinden,Bob; Nussbaum,Jim; Chastain,Harral; Winter,Jerry; Saranchuk,Mel; Gauthier,Claude; White,Randy; Bass,John; Biggs,Ted: Leedy, Dick	8:45
Men's Doubles Skill Groups 4.5	Caldwell,Colin;  Earley, Tom; Fraties, AJ; Thiede,Lance; Baker,Gary; MacDonald,Chuck; Jmaeff,Dan; Perkin,Ross; Freso,Byron; Hawthorne,Kerry;	10:00
Men's Doubles Skill Groups 5.0	Schmidt,LeRoy; Parobec,Maurice; Christiansen,Vance; Bourne,Randy; Touchet,Dave; Hager,Al	11:15

Saturday Mar 7	Club Members	Time
Mixed Doubles Skill Groups 3.0	See Friday
Mixed Doubles Skill Groups 3.5	Bates, Harold; Gearhart, Jeanne; Haas,Duke; Rone, Randall; Saranchuk,Lynda; Saranchuk,Mel; Tetzlaff, Tom; Purvis, Jill; Emerson,Connie; Anderson,Jerry;White, Randy	8:00
Mixed Doubles Skill Groups 4.0	Richter,Marvin; Sherfey,Audrey; Ouimet,Marg; Hawthorne,Kerry; Durrant,Barbara; Bolton,Gordon; Scott,Lori; Scott,Les; Staffen,Joyce; Winter,Jerry; Biggs,Barb; Biggs,Ted; Chastain,Darcy; Chastain,Harral; Leedy, Dick; Bass, Della; Gautier, Claude; Latulippe, Lyne	8:00
Mixed Doubles Skill Groups 4.5	Robins,Donna; Perkin,Ross; MacDonald,Chuck; Dobson,Sally; Baker,Gary; Fraties,Irene; Jmaeff,Brenda; Jmaeff,Dan; Thiede, Lance;	8:45
Mixed Doubles Skill Groups 5.0	Lindow, Carol; Orcutt,Theresa; Parobec,Maurice; Freso,Marsha; Bourne,Randy; Freso,Byron	10:45

Sunday Mar 8	Club Members	Time
Men's Doubles Skill Groups 3.0	Novello,Tony;	8:00
Womens Doubles Skill Groups 3.0	Raph,Michelle; MacDonald,Sharon; Wamsteeker,Bev; Wight,Cheryl; Billig, LouAnn	8:00
Womens Doubles Skill Groups 3.5	Saranchuk,Lynda; Bass,Della; Chastain,Darcy; White, Marge; Emerson, Connie; Gearhart,Jeanne; Blunk,Kimber; Earley,Ann; Nolin,Lise	9:00
Womens Doubles Skill Groups 4.0	Nichol,Rosemary; Ouimet,Marg; Schwarz,Nancy; Durrant,Barbara; Latulippe,Lyne; Staffen,Joyce; Scott,Lori; Duncan,Mary; Sherfey, Audrey	8:00
Womens Doubles Skill Groups 4.5	Fraties,Irene; Dobson,Sally; Jmaeff,Brenda	10:45
Womens Doubles Skill Groups 5.0	Orcutt,Theresa, Freso, Marsha; Lindow, Carol	11:15

DUEL IN THE DESERT AT PALM CREEK

www.duelinthedesert.rocks

We hope you are all looking forward to our 12^th annual pickleball tournament at Palm Creek. If you are not playing in the tournament, we hope you have found a place to volunteer and be a part of this very special event. Did you know that our tournament is the largest Tier 2 USAPA sanctioned tournament in North America sponsored by a club? We have nearly 500 players involved in this tournament with 700 matches to be played over 3 days. This will be our biggest and best tournament ever!

In a few days we will send you a list of Palm Creek players participating in the tournament. This list will include start times for their events. Please come out and support your favorite players.

We hope you have all received your club t-shirts. Let’s make sure our club members stand out! Show your colors!! Friday is Blue/Teal day. Saturday is Lime Green day.  Sunday is Pink day, or for the guys red or maroon is good!!!

We will have a few bike racks available near the south end of the courts (by court 19). Additional parking will be available on the west side of the Sports Pavilion. Golf cart parking will be available on the north side of the pavilion, and along the west side of the ball field and bark park. Vehicle parking will be available at the north end of the courts in the designated vacant lots. Follow the signs and traffic directors to the parking areas.

Line judges will be used for Gold Medal matches. These matches cannot begin until line judges are in place. If you are available and can help out, please check with the referee desk.

Be sure to visit our vendors and our sponsors, located along the promenade and on The Green. Try out the massage services, take a ‘chill-pill’, shop for paddles or maybe a new outfit. Stop by the raffle table, check out the great items to be given away. You can’t win if you don’t buy raffle tickets.

Stop by our USAPA desk, renew your membership or sign-up now. In case you haven’t heard the news, starting in 2016 USAPA membership will be required for all USAPA sanctioned tournaments participation. If you requested a rule book, it is being held for you at the desk.  Need a rule book?

Get yours early, before we sell out $ 5 each

Please, no smoking in the entire sports complex area, including the softball field, pickleball court complex, promenade, sports pavilion and food court.

Also, no pets are allowed in the entire sports complex areas listed above.

Please be earth friendly. Use recycle bins for all of your recyclable water/drink bottles. All other garbage goes in the garbage cans. Please do not co-mingle.

Although there will be no organized play during the tournament, a few courts will start to become available after 1pm each day. You are welcomed to play on vacant courts, however, please do not interrupt a match in progress to get to a vacant court. Please wait until the match is over.

In addition to the tournament, we also have these fun events for your enjoyment:

Wednesday March 4             Open Play – 7:30AM til 9PM

Open to registered tournament players and club members. All courts will be available with the exception of court # 9-12 from 12pm-3pm. If all open play courts are in use and players are waiting, a Challenge System with a maximum of 2 consecutive games, ‘’2 on, 2 off” or “4 on, 4 off” procedure is in force.

Pickleball Now! Clinic – 12pm-3pm

Byron Freso, Pickleball Now! representative will be hosting our before-tournament clinic! Targeted at 3.0 -3.5 players (primarily), Byron will focus on giving you some new and different ways to solve problems on the court. Although the clinic is full, feel free to come and observe.

Thursday, March 5               Open Play – 7:30AM til 9PM

Open to registered tournament players and club members. All courts will be available. If all open play courts are in use and players are waiting, a Challenge System with a maximum of 2 consecutive games, ‘’2 on, 2 off” or “4 on, 4 off” procedure is in force.

                       

Meet and Greet at the Bistro –         5 - 8 PM

Find the Bistro on the west end of the Club House

Open to Tournament Players, Tournament Volunteers and Significant Others

                                                Music, snacks, beer and pop provided.

Friday March 6                      Tournament Day 1 - Grand Opening Ceremonies 7:45AM

                                                Registration                 7:00 AM

Palm Creek Choir, Flag Ceremony

-Men’s Skill Doubles 3.5-5.0

-Mixed Skill Doubles 3.0

                                                Raffle, Referee Raffle,Vendors and Sponsors on the Green                                                        

                                               

Saturday March 7                 Tournament Day 2 - Grand Opening Ceremonies 7:45AM
Registration                 7:00 AM

Featured Singer, Flag Ceremony
-Mixed Skill Doubles 3.5-5.0
Raffle, Referee Raffle, Vendors and Sponsors on the Green

The Medal Round Pizza Party (approx 4:30pm)

Free Pizza, soda for all spectators and players, The ‘Bud Beer Wagon’ will be selling beer with all proceeds going to ‘Ride for the Warriors”. 

Tournament Mania

A sign of the times, our tournament broke our own records this year, with how quickly players signed up  and how early our registrations were closed.
As we are all caught up in the excitement of our tournament this year, especially all our busy volunteers, this post is to remind you that the Huntsman World Senior Games, registration opened yesterday, the tournament is sanctioned this year!
As of 11 AM today, 300 have already registered! Registration will most likely be closed by the end of today or tomorrow. You and your partner must register before the 500 maximum is reached. There will be a waiting list if you are too late
Good luck.  http://www.seniorgames.net
The Huntsman tournament, is a good heads up, for the continuing growth of tournament play.
A recommendation - if you are looking forward to playing in the Nationals next fall,  Registration opens June 1st, mark your calendars NOW.

A Busy Week Ahead UPDATED

Clinic
For those who signed up for the Byron Freso Clinic on Wednesday
Registration is full, please arrive at the stadium courts, with $5 cash at 11:40 to insure your spot

Referee Meeting
On Wednesday, March 4th there will be a referee meeting.  The meeting will be in the Senora South Room (NOT the Ballroom) from 3:15 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Our tournament is coming up very quickly and all 24 courts will be used at one time throughout each of the 3 days, so we will need a lot of help!  At the meeting we will be getting a list of those of you who can start out right away in the mornings and also that will be a good time to go over some of the things that went on during our Residential Tournament.  Also to answer any questions that you might have.

So please try to come to the meeting!

Tom and Jeanne Gearhart

Organized Play
Canceled Wednesday through Sunday

Duel in the Desert
Friday - Sunday  - Enjoy the matches
This is a great opportunity to see some of the best players at each skill compete
Check the link above" Duel in the Desert" for all the details