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Newsletter May 6, 2022

2022-05-05 10:01 | Anonymous

In this issue:

 Tournament Registration Reminder

 Kindness to Captains

 Youth Membership Pricing 

 Rating Policy Changes

 Alpine Calendar Change

  

Tournament Registration 

Just a reminder that registration is now open for the following St. Albert tournaments:

SAPC Summer Kickoff Tournament - June 4th to 5th; Members only

SAPC Pickle Party Tournament - July 15th to 17th; Open, Sanctioned

Registration for these tournaments is available on the Pickleball Brackets website and includes a small registration fee.  Once you have created/logged into your PB Brackets account, just click on Tournaments and, if necessary, use the Search filter (narrow by choosing Canada/Alberta) to find these SAPC tournaments.  Spots are filling up fast so act now!


Kindness to Captains / Outdoor Play

Please note that our captains have the right to cancel schedule club play due to inclement weather or wet courts.  The decision of the captain is final and should not, under any circumstances, lead to members treating the captain/co-captains with disrespect, nor challenging their decision which is made in good faith and for the health and safety of our members.

Should a captain decide that play will be canceled due to poor court conditions (excessive water for example) or due to current or forecast rain, the captain will post that information on the Facebook page of the Club which is a private Facebook group for Club members.  If you are an active member of the Club and do not currently belong to that Facebook group you should seriously consider joining because that is where the cancellations will be posted.   If Club play is cancelled, members may choose to play (as public play with their own balls), but will do so at their own risk.  Once again, however, it is unfair and unacceptable to be rude to captains under any circumstances and certainly not because they have called a stop to play or stopped it before play starts.  You should know that on many occasions, our captains make the journey from all areas of St. Albert to check the conditions at Alpine in order to assist them in making a call on whether play can safely proceed.

On another note, it is great to see our courts filling up as we all come out to play!   Kudos to the captains for a smooth roll out of our outdoor play sessions.   It is heartwarming to see our experienced volunteer captains taking the new captains under their wings and show them the procedures!  Way to go all of you and - THANK YOU!!

Youth Membership Now More Attractive  


Pickleball is becoming more popular across all age groups, and your club is pleased to do what it can to accommodate and encourage pickleball play among our youth.  These are our kids and grandkids -- the future of pickleball!   While we work on better policies to protect youth and try to get more courts and more court time in St. Albert to accommodate youth play, we are also moving on other fronts.   The latest is a reduction of our annual membership price for youth -- it is now only $10 per year

Please note that youth members who already meet our skill rating qualifications can play in most of our organized play and in tournaments, along with adults, as long as they are accompanied by a pre-identified "Responsible Adult".   

We encourage players of all ages in our community to enjoy this sport that we love!

Rating Policy Changes 

Historically, SAPC asked new members to provide information on their initial intake form regarding existing club ratings, tournament ratings, etc.   We have determined that this process is inefficient and requires updating as noted below.

Furthermore, given that we have started to attract more members who are already members of other clubs, and many who have a Canadian Pickleball Tournament Rating (CPTR), those realties require that we rethink our past processes.

Going forward, new members who want to have their SAPC club rating updated to reflect ratings from other clubs or their CPTR rating are required to send an email to rating@pickleballstalbert.ca detailing the request along with the required documentation for the change.  All of the details around using other club ratings is provided on our website at https://www.pickleballstalbert.ca/Skill-Levels-and-Ratings .

A few items to note: 

  • The CPTR rating is only based on play in pickleball sanctioned events. This is different from the rating that Pickleball Brackets provides for all games that play on their platform.  Please review the latest email from Pickleball Canada for details on that nuance if you are interested.
  • SAPC has made the decision that a CPTR rating is only considered valid if the player has played 10 games or more (all sanctioned of course).  The rationale for this is that a player's rating can be skewed by the fact that the rating methodology begins with what can be a somewhat arbitrary self rating.  After 10 games, we believe, the results will have become more statistically valid and are a truer representation of a player's competency and skill level.

  • The St. Albert Club on Pickleball Brackets is not automatically connected with our membership system.  For club purposes, the https://www.pickleballstalbert.ca/ system is considered the system of record.  We attempt to keep the two environments updated, but old eyes sometimes fail; as such, patience is encouraged.  
  • Finally, if you are a recent new member to our club and have a current CPTR rating or outside rating, we encourage you to confirm your current rating on the club website under your current profile (see top right corner of the site) - https://www.pickleballstalbert.ca/Sys/Profile and follow through with the ratings team at the aforementioned e-mail address if adjustments are required.

WhatsApp Groups to Facilitate Communication 

Please be advised that the Club will be adopting a plan to improve communication amongst its members.   Lisa Mueller has agreed to take on the volunteer role of Social Media Coordinator for SAPC (welcome Lisa!!).  Lisa is already managing the Club's aforementioned Facebook Group including approving requests to join, approving and posting  materials/articles, etc.

Beginning shortly, Lisa will be sending out invites to members to join WhatsApp groups that are specific to their rating level.  Accepting this invitation will be optional but is strongly encouraged as it will allow you to receive instant notification of important information specific to your rating group (eg. a cancelled play session).   If you do not already use WhatsApp you should be aware that it is a free app that can be downloaded in minutes on your smartphone (I-phone or Android).  Many SAPC members are already using WhatsApp for groups that they have created to coordinate play and communicate amongst each other so they are very familiar with this simple to use communication tool.

Alpine Calendar Change 

Please note that the Round Robin on Tuesday evening will be changed to 3.0+ so anyone rated 3.0, 3.5 4.0+ can come out to play.  

Until next time, keep your paddle up!

   Contacts


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