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Monday, November 30, 2015

Palm Creek Pickleball Tournaments - Registration Opens Dec 1

Registration opens for both of our tournaments on Dec 1, 2015.  The Members Pickleball Tournament is our fun tournament for our club members.  This is your tournament playing with your good friends in a tournament atmosphere.  If you have never played in a Pickleball tournament, this is a great place to start.

The Duel In The Desert is our 13th annual pickleball tournament that draws players over 50 from all over North America.

Please  see the information below.  You can getmore information on the Resident and Duel In The Desert pages just below the header picture.


Palm Creek Pickleball Club
Members Tournament

February 6-8, 2016

             FUN!                           FUN!                           FUN!

  • Registration Opens December 1, 2015;  Closes January 25, 2016
  • Please Help Us by Registering Online at:  www.pickleballtournaments.com.
  • Registration and payment online is EASY!  (Contact us for help)
  • Fee:  $10 (includes first event);  $5 each additional event
  • Must be a Resident of Palm Creek 30 consecutive days including tournament dates
  • Must be a Member of Palm Creek Pickleball Club
  • Must Play at Skill Level Played in Any Organized Play (including Round Robins) two (2) Weeks Prior to Tournament
When registering online, payment is made using PayPal.  You do not need a PayPal account.  PayPal accepts most major credit cards.  In PayPal simply use “Guest” to pay.  Again, we would be glad to help!

To pay by check you can print your form and place check and form in the Tournament Dropbox on North Side of North Big Blue Board by Court 17.  Checks must be drawn on U.S. Banks and Should Be Made Payable to:  Palm Creek Pickleball Club.   Note your site number on your check.  To Print the Registration Form, download from www.pickleballtournaments.com.  .


COMPETITION EVENTS

Saturday, Feb. 6       Women’s Age/Skill Doubles   50+    2.5 thru 5.0

                                   Women’s Age/Skill Doubles   65+    2.5 thru 5.0

                                   Men’s Skill Doubles                          2.5 thru 5.0

Sunday, Feb. 7          Mixed Skill Doubles                          2.5 thru 5.0

 
Monday, Feb. 8          Men’s Age/Skill Doubles    50+        2.5 thru 5.0

                                   Men’s Age/Skill Doubles    65+         2.5 thru 5.0

                                    Women’s Skill Doubles                     2.5 thru 5.0

Registration Questions:   Contact,  Diane Weyant at 6869 or palmcreekresident@gmail.com



2016 DUEL IN THE DESERT

PICKLEBALL TOURNAMENT
MARCH 3-6, 2016

Palm Creek Golf & RV Resort,
Casa Grande, AZ


        4 Days of Tournament Play - 5 Days of Fun!
USAPA Sanctioned Tier 2

                                     Seniors Age with Skills Tournament 50+

The Largest Tier 2 Event Sponsored by a Club

World Class Pickleball Complex with 32 Courts!

4 Sunken Medal Courts

Sponsors and Vendors

Pizza Party, Player Social, Paddle Demos and More


Social Play Day Wed March 2                             USAPA Membership Required

REGISTRATION: OPENS DECEMBER 1, 2015, Closes February 15, 2016
 

PLEASE REGISTER ONLINE AT WWW.PICKLEBALLTOURNAMENTS.COM
 
 
Registration Fees
      Registration - $30.00
       (All events: $10.00 each)
      Registration includes: Free Shirt
 
Online Registration ONLY. No paper forms.

 
COMPETITION EVENTS

THURSDAY, MARCH 3: MEN’S DOUBLES 3.0 (50+, 65+)
                                         WOMEN’S DOUBLES 3.0 (50+, 65+)
                                         MIXED DOUBLES 3.5 (50+, 65+)
 
FRIDAY, MARCH 4: MEN’S DOUBLES 3.5, 4.0, 4.5, 5.0 (50+, 65+)
SATURDAY, MARCH 5: MIXED DOUBLES 3.0, 4.0, 4.5, 5.0 (50+, 65+)
SUNDAY, MARCH 6: WOMEN’S DOUBLES 3.5, 4.0, 4.5, 5.0 (50+, 65+)


Registration Questions:  Judi White at 520-876-6200 or  pickleballpalmcreek@gmail.com

Friday, November 27, 2015

The Medal Winners Are....


Congratulations!!!

USAPA NATIONALS VII
Marsha Freso -Silver -Mixed Doubles - Age
Joyce Staffen - Bronze - Women's Doubles - Age
Al Hager - Silver - Mixed Doubles - Age
Carol Lindow - Gold - Women's Doubles - Age
Byron Freso - Silver - Men's Doubles - Age


Shoot Out @ Sun City
Lance Thiede
Gold - Mixed Doubles 4.5


East Valley Tournament
David Zapatka and Don Simmons
Gold - Men's Doubles 4.5
Silver was won by Dave in Mixed Doubles 5.0/4.5
Not shown
Silver was won by Marsha Freso in Women's Doubles 5.0/4.5

Tuesday, November 17, 2015

Wow, What a Week


Thank you to ALL the volunteers who made 
this a "Great Event"

The following photo's are only a sampling of all the volunteers that made this happen.



Jocelyn Barr
Rocking it as a Referee


     Joyce Staffen with Mike Dobson
and Lynn Carlson at Referee tent
            

Bill Wessels was a regular up and down the courts to referee

Lou Ann Billig  one of the many
Medical Volunteers always ready to help

Susan Dahlen
Keeping the matches moving

Stephanie Royo
Reta Nussbaum
helping with player bags
Stephanie is also our Blog photographer

Mary Ann Crowe
Working with USAPA computers

Lynn Reiter and Renee Farrell
"Hospitality" the "Knife" aside

Helen Carlson " Show me the Money"
Looks like Vanderlinden's are enjoying Cold Stone

Lori Scott and Peter Crowe
Welcoming Smiles at 
Pro Shop

Jeanne Gearhart - Referee Coordinator
Donna Christianson - Club President
Lisa Harold - Palm Creek General Manager


A link will be posted when the official tournament photo's are available

                        

Saturday, November 14, 2015

THE LAST DAY OF NATIONALS VII

Sunday's Schedule
at Palm Creek

Open and Senior Open Singles
This is the last day for you to watch "The best of the best" play


Congratulations!!!
 Nationals VII
Youngest and Oldest players 

Kendall Hastings - Age 10
Bronze Medal winner in Junior Mixed Doubles 
Bronze Medal winner in Junior Women's Double
Joyce Jones - Age 85
Silver Medal winner is Mixed Doubles 80+
Gold Medal Winner in Women's Doubles 80+
Gold Medal Winner in  Singles 75+  

Reminder: Stop by the USAPA table to join the USAPA or to renew your membership, Cash or US Checks accepted

Great Day Planned At The Courts

Saturday's Schedule
at Palm Creek

Mixed Open  4.5+
 Mixed Senior Open  4.5+
Junior Division: Doubles, Mixed Doubles and Singles

Youngest Competitor today Kendall Hastings 
10 Years of Age

Perfect day to stop by the USAPA booth to either apply for USAPA membership or to renew your existing membership
All sanctioned tournaments as of January 1st including our "Duel in the Desert" requires membership

Have questions? We will do our best to answer them

Thursday, November 12, 2015

Day 6

Friday's Schedule
at Palm Creek
Men's and Women's 
Open Doubles

Come see the best of the best 

Nationals Live Stream  
1PM - 7PM
Events will be streamed to 61 Countries

NATIONALS ARE HERE!!


OPEN TO ALL

11:3O - 1:30

Sponsor Demo Day
Come to the courts and you will have the opportunity to test
  many different type paddles and " Simon" our ball machine

Tuesday, November 10, 2015

Singles Battle

Wednesday's Schedule
at Robson Ranch
Men's and Women' Singles 
19+ - 80+

Congratulations !!!

Marsha Freso and  Al Hager
Mixed Doubles
Silver Medal Winners

Monday, November 9, 2015

Book Signing


Tuesday's Schedule
at Robson Ranch
Mixed Doubles Age
19+ - 85+



MARY LITTLEWOOD APPEARANCE:  USAPA Pickleball Fundamentals book author, Mary Littlewood will be at the USAPA tent on Tue, Nov 10 from 10AM-noon signing copies of the book.  The book can be purchased at the USAPA tent for $15.


Reminder: Perfect time to pick up USAPA Rule Book $ 5.00


Congratulations!!

Byron Freso -  Men's Doubles
Bronze Medal Winner

Sunday, November 8, 2015

Nationals

Monday's Schedule
at Robson Ranch
Men's Doubles
19+ -  65+


At the USAPA Booth
 Come talk to us about becoming a member or 
renewing your membership
Sale Merchandise was selling fast today!

Congratulations to our First Medal Winners at Nationals VII
Carol Lindow - Gold
Joyce Staffen - Bronze

Saturday, November 7, 2015

LET THE GAMES BEGIN!


Sunday's Schedule
at Robson Ranch
Men's Doubles 70+
All Women's Doubles by Age

Be sure to drop by the USAPA Booth
Rule Books - $ 5.00
Lot's of discounted USAPA Merchandise

Join the USAPA  or
Renew your Membership

Pickleball Canada will also be at our booth doing memberships!

Pickleball: Pinal County scores national tourney
By DAVID YANKUS, Staff Writer | Posted: Friday, November 6, 2015 8:50 am
ELOY — “There’s something magical about it — that you can have a 30-year-old and an 80-year-old playing the same game at the same time.”
That quote was from Rusty Howes, creator, executive producer and on-air host of the Pickleball Channel at pickleballchannel.com.
In a way, it effectively sums up what pickleball is and explains how its popularity has boomed in the last several years.
It’s a sport that can be played by any age group, any gender and any skill level. And it’s not only fun and exciting but a good workout too, as many players would attest.
Starting Saturday, for the first time ever, Robson Ranch in Eloy is playing host to the USA Pickleball Association 2015 Nationals VII, the nation’s premier pickleball event.
Robson Ranch will host the USAPA Nationals age division championships from Saturday to Wednesday, and then the tourney will finish with the open championships at Palm Creek Golf & RV Resort in Casa Grande Nov. 12-15.
Robson Ranch, with its 16 permanent pickleball courts and 16 additional courts added by converting tennis courts, was the perfect selection for USAPA to hold its seventh Nationals as the amount of players and spectators continues to increase each year. Palm Creek also has 32 pickleball courts.
“You have a sport that is growing exponentially and the premier national event is still connected to community — and couldn’t happen without community,” Howes said. “And one of the things people love about pickleball is that it’s a great community, you have amazing sportsmanship, and the whole event couldn’t exist without the Casa Grande and Eloy community and the volunteers that will be there.”
Even though it is actually 50 years old, thanks in large part to retired baby boomers picking up the sport, pickleball is now one of the fastest-growing sports in the U.S. The number of pickleball courts in the country has doubled since 2010 and there are now more than 150,000 active players of all ages in the U.S.
What exactly is pickleball?
Pickleball is a racquet sport that combines elements of tennis, badminton and table tennis. It’s best described as an oversized pingpong game, played on a badminton-sized court with a tennis-sized net. The sport has two to four players that use solid paddles made out of wood or composite materials to hit a polymer perforated ball over the net.
The serious players are ranked, starting from 2.0, 2.5, 3.0 and so on, until the top rank of 5.0 is achieved.
On the final three days of Nationals at Palm Creek, during the open class, USAPA players have to be a 4.5-rated player or better to compete.
During the age division class at Robson Ranch, USAPA players must have at least a 4.0 rating.
“You’ll see some really good play at both places and you’ll find people from everywhere,” said Al Hager, 5.0-rated player and Robson Ranch resident.
Hager, 64, won gold in the men’s doubles 60-plus age division at last year’s Nationals.
He is competing again this year, at the men’s doubles in the open event, as well as mixed doubles in both the age division and open class.
Hager, like many pickleball players, picked the game up when he retired 11 years ago. His first foray into the sport came at Palm Creek, and he immediately fell in love with it. For a competitive person — Hager built and raced sprint cars for 20 years — this was a great outlet.
“It’s a great game, it’s a lot of fun and you’re going to get exercise,” Hager said. “Nationals is good for all of us because hotels get booked, restaurants get business, gas is sold and the area gets a little economic boon.”
USAPA does its own media coverage of the national tournament, but Howes and the Pickleball Channel will be there as well, covering games, interviewing players and providing additional content and insight to the intense competition.
In fact, USAPA intends to stream the gold medal matches live online to gauge the interest from viewers and see if it has that kind of fan attraction yet.
Gold medal winners in the open classes and age divisions win cash prizes. The purses, though not large, are what draw some players.
Howes said as more players join the movement, including younger athletes, the finesse, skill level and athleticism continues to elevate. But, no matter how good certain players get, it’s still a wildly fun game, he added.
Play officially begins Sunday with age division competitions from 19-plus all the way up to 85-plus. There are brackets for men’s singles, women’s singles, men’s doubles, women’s doubles and mixed doubles of all ages.
From 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Sunday, attendees will not only get the chance to watch the competition of approximately 800 players (about 15-20 will be Robson Resort Communities residents), they can also enjoy opportunities to tour model homes and villas, complimentary light refreshments and a drawing for a chance to win pickleball gear and other prizes.
There will also be junior play this year, for children younger than 19, Nov. 14 at Palm Creek.
Open class is for ages 19-49, and the senior open is for those 50 and older.
The full schedule of Nationals is online at www.usapa.org/nationals-vii-schedule.