In this issue:

Reserved Play Coordinator	Health & Safety Committee
Indoor Play	Level 1 Sports Venue
Paddle Advice from the Experts

Open Position - Reserved Play Coordinator

Your club has another great opportunity to join one of the many fun teams that keep our club humming.  Are you ready to volunteer a few hours per month? 

We would like to begin by thanking Carol Peabody for her dedication and hard work as our retiring Reserved Play (aka Registered Play) Coordinator.  If this sport were hockey, we would be retiring Carol's jersey number!  Carol has occupied this key volunteer role for the last two years while also fulfilling many other volunteer roles and pursuits.  We wish her all the best and know that Carol will continue to play as much pickleball as her busy schedule allows! 

With Carol's departure, we now have an opening for our Reserved Play Coordinator.  No prior experience is needed as we can teach you this straightforward job from square one; we'll always be around to support you - providing coaching, backup and more!

The duties of this vacant role include the following:

1.   Setting up reserved play events in our reserved play calendar (based on instructions from our venue manager and Red Willow venue coordinator),

2.   Monitoring  events and cancelling sessions if and when required,

3.   Using our e-mail account regplay@pickleballstalbert.ca and responding to e-mails sent to that account, and

4.   About once every month or two, you would be setting up several reserved play events.  This is just a matter of duplicating a previous similar event and adjusting a few settings like the start date and time

This work can be done from any computer with access to the internet; interested parties should be aware that backup resources are available to take over in cases of illness, holidays, etc.  Further, Carol advises that she found the software used for this purpose to be easy to use.

Once again, no previous experience is needed although an affinity for using computers and software is an advantage.   If you are interested or have any questions, please email Ray Keroack by clicking here.

Health & Safety Committee

Please be advised that the SAPC would like to rebuild it's Health & Safety Committee.   We would love to have one or more individuals with a background in health to volunteer to be on this Committee and supplement the efforts of Jeanine who is ensuring that our health/emergency aid kits are kept properly stocked at all venues.  The Committee would help us with the following:

1.  Reviewing our current health and safety policies and practices while making recommendations for improvement, 

2.  Assessing the adequacy of our health and safety procedures and the aforementioned safety kits as well as related training and making recommendations regarding same, and

3.  Providing and advice and counsel to the Board, play captains and other Club volunteers related to health and safety matters and related questions that may arise

Interested parties should contact Eileen by clicking here. 

Indoor Play

Membership Cards, Etc.

A reminder to everyone to bring their SAPC membership card to all our sessions and events.  The card can be printed or on their smartphone and will indicate the member's date of membership and current rating level.  This is particularly important for new members and members who have recently achieved a new SAPC rating level.  This becomes important for all members come January or February at which time everyone needs to provide proof of their 2023 membership renewal.  As noted in previous Newsletters, don't forget to also bring your stickers and a pair of clean, indoor athletic shoes for your indoor play as well.

Arrive on Time

It is important for members to be at the school venues on time or, if unavoidable, within TEN minutes of play session time as we are not to disturb the school caretakers by ringing the school bell.  Instead, the captain will assign someone to "man the door" at the start of the session.  No one will be allowed to enter the school once ten minutes has passed beyond the scheduled start time for each session.

Play Type

Depending on the numbers of members playing at the school venues, the play type may be paddle play or round robin as determined by the play session captain.

No Playing Up or Down

While rating clinics may be scattered through out the winter months, there will continue to be no playing up at any sessions.  This is due to the fact that such exceptions are difficult to manage and maintain, especially with limited spaces at each venue.

Furthermore, members should read the "Levels of Play" article on the Play Types page (click here) as "playing down" is no longer available for play designated at a particular level.  New members in particular should read the updated "Indoor Play, 2022-23" article on the same page to learn about the venues that are drop in versus reserved play and the cost to play at each venue.

Reserved Play

All Red Willow players should note that we are taking advantage of technology to decrease some volunteer/administrative burden.  We will now let our systems automatically open reserved play events for registration rather than opening them manually on Friday afternoons. 

We found that the manual approach was quite a bit of work and, while some of us seemed to enjoy hovering around the computer or our devices on Friday afternoons to be the first to register, the elimination of that perk now means that Red Willow registered events will generally open the Friday before at 12:00:01 am (in case you're wondering, this is just after midnight at the end of Thursday)  Note:  We wish our system allowed us to specify a time of registration opening in addition to a day, but it currently does not.

Visitors

Members may invite guests, but those guests are only allowed to play as visitors twice each indoor season (this is to be based upon the honour system as tracking would be too difficult and cumbersome).  The following would apply to members wishing to host a guest:

1.  Ask them to ensure that they have not been invited by other SAPC members more than once (as noted above they may only play as a guest twice per indoor season)

2.  They are your responsibility so make sure that they follow all of our rules, procedures, safety policies and code of conduct

3.  Guests may only be invited to school venues, not registered play sessions

4.  Advise the captain that you have invited a guest and indicate as such on the play session paperwork

4.  The member is responsible to ensure that the guest has stickers to pay for their session; the rate is double that of SAPC members, so two stickers would apply for each guest 

Level 1 Sports Venue

We have raised the registration limit for Series A and B from 24 to 26. It’s always nice having a couple extra players, especially in the event of no-shows.  Note:  We still recommend that people who are going to be absent try to find a replacement.

Please note that Series A (3.5 rating level) still has two spots open. 

Paddle Advice for Pickleballers

An informative Article from "In a Pickle" - Sean and Leslie:

We are often surprised when we come across people at the courts who didn’t know that we are in the business of selling paddles (in addition to being the Club raters for which we are most well known).   Anyway, we thought we would share some insights on your choice of paddle for pickleball play.

It is often difficult to watch people playing with a paddle that we feel is not the best choice for them.  So whether you purchase your paddle from us or not….here are some things you should consider when deciding which paddle is the right one for you.

We look for a paddle that is forgiving, easy to play with and easy on our body.  While thinner, hard hitting paddles may give you lots of power…they may also be less forgiving on the courts - and on your arm!  A thicker and softer paddle will usually be more forgiving and better dampen vibration.  Please note that you can still generate power from this type of paddle if that is your goal.

It’s a misconception that smaller and not so strong players need a lighter (7.6oz and under) paddle…when in fact, in our opinion, it’s the opposite.  A heavier (7.8oz and up) paddle will do more of the work for you, thereby taking less effort to accomplish the same result - that should help you make more controlled shots while being easier on your body.  Conversely, it is our experience that players with shoulder issues often are using a paddle that is too light. 

Players who develop elbow issues often get them from using a paddle with a grip that is too thin for them.  As a rule of thumb when you grip your paddle you should have about a fingers width between your longest finger and your thumb. 

How to know when it might be time for a new paddle…

If you have purchased a well made paddle, chances are you will get bored of your paddle and just want the latest and greatest before it breaks down.  But if it feels or sounds “off” check the edge guard - if it’s loose at all, the integrity of the paddle head has been compromised and the ball will no longer come off the paddle face like it should.  If you have a loose edge guard your paddle needs to be replaced. 

Other things to consider when choosing your paddle:

Head shape

Handle length

Colour choices

And, MOST IMPORTANTLY…how it feels when you play with it!   We recommend demoing a few models before making your choice!

Something you won’t get when you go to a sporting goods or hardware store is expert advice and the opportunity to try the paddle out first. 

Hope you found this information helpful. 

Thank you.

Leslie and Sean, inapicklepals.com

Until next time, keep your paddle up!