In this issue:
| SAPC 2024 Tournaments |
League Play for 4.0+ Members |
| Call for Volunteers |
Updated Code of Conduct |
| Alpine Outdoor Play |
Special Olympics update from Gary C. |
| Non-SAPC Tournaments |
Membership Breakdown by Rating Level |
2024 Tournaments
We will be hosting three tournaments this year. Our Members Only Summer Kickoff is scheduled for June 8th and 9th and is on pickleballbrackets.com now - registration opens today, April 20th, at 6:00 pm. You can register as a team or, if you do not have partner, register without a partner and we will pair you up with someone.
Our Sanctioned Tournament will be held on August 16th to the 18th.
Finally, we will be hosting a Members Only Tournament on September 21st and 22nd.
League Play - 4.0+
We are presently working on getting league play organized and will be sending an e-mail very shortly to all 4.0 and higher players with details on how to register. We hope to start play on May 9th. If you plan to register for this League play, please make sure that your membership details are in order and that you are an active, paid up member including Pickleball Canada, Alberta and SAPC; any members who register without meeting these criteria will be rejected.
Call for Volunteers
Please note that our Club needs volunteers in many areas in order to operate effectively - that includes having captains for ALL Club play sessions, rating coordinators for DUPR rating play sessions, tournament volunteers, administrative and scheduling functions, etc., etc.
Thanks to all those who have volunteered in the past, are currently volunteering or have plans to do so later this year. The Club will be holding a volunteer appreciation day for all of our fall/winter season volunteers on June 1st (if it rains on June 1st the event will be moved to June 2nd). We will keep you posted with more details as the month of June approaches.
Also, keep an eye out for e-mails from our membership team on the topic of volunteers as the summer season progresses. Please consider volunteering your skills and time to support our Club and your fellow members as these opportunities arise.
Updated Code of Conduct
SAPC has updated its Member Code of Conduct (click here) and our Board requests your help to keep our club atmosphere friendly and open.
Introduction
We are at the start of our outdoor season, and look forward to meeting you all on the courts to have fun playing pickleball and socializing. Outsiders and new comers often comment on the friendly and welcoming atmosphere in our club. This friendly atmosphere does not happen by chance.
In order to achieve this our Club has conduct policies for members, volunteers and board members that set out the expectations. These policies ensure that members, their guests and club visitors can enjoy the benefits of the SAPC events without fear of rude, intimidating, or other unwanted behaviours. The Board follows up when these or other policies are ignored.
Quite a few members have received written reprimands when needed, including one whose membership was revoked after due process.
The Issue
It has come to the board’s attention that our volunteers, especially our captains, face the brunt of rude, belligerent or intimidating behaviour when they give direction, ask for compliance to the rules or ask to see the membership and rating card as per our Club regulations.
It is caused by a small minority of members that spoil the atmosphere for the rest. Often they are not even aware that their attitude and behaviour affect others negatively. Sometime, they actually blame the other person for making problems! Arguing with these persons does not improve the situation, and frankly who needs the aggravation?
This has resulted in a number of volunteers quitting their roles and none of us can enjoy the pickleball programming if we do not have volunteers to organize the activities. Unfortunately, the Board was not aware of these issues when they occurred, and, therefore, could not investigate the incident(s) in question, support the volunteers involved or reprimand the offending parties.
Here is how you can help bring change and support our volunteers:
1. Report any incidences of rude, belligerent or aggressive behaviour you observed via a quick email, including date, time, location and the person in potential breach of our policy.
Often the volunteer will not report because the offender may well create more unpleasantness for them in the next session. When the board approaches the offending party, they will have checked with a couple of persons present as to what happened, and the name(s) of who sent the report will not be divulged.
2. When any member or volunteer is accosted in a way that is rude, aggressive or belligerent, you and others can approach silently , and just by your presence, show your support for the person that is being attacked. Your courage to show silent support will help diffuse the situation.
This takes courage but it is worth doing. If we do nothing, then the bullies will win and they will not magically change their ways. Past experience is that a little bit of support and proper enforcement will take care of the problem.
Also, for your information, our SAPC member conduct policy, bullets 4,14,15, have been edited to make things clearer as follows:
4. Members will treat all people that volunteer to help run the club with courtesy and respect, complying with all reasonable requests in a courteous manner.
14. Members are expected to help create an environment that supports the dignity of, and equity for all members and which is free of discrimination, bullying, harassment or rudeness.
15. To maintain a welcoming and friendly atmosphere, members will report to the board any incidents that diminished the enjoyment of club activities for themselves, other members or volunteers. The Board will then decide on appropriate follow up.
The SAPC Board would like to thank you for your help with this. We hope to see you soon at Alpine as we embark on another fun filled summer pickleball season!
Alpine Outdoor Play (from Eileen)
Alpine sessions are opening Monday 22nd. Please note that all members should have their current, valid membership cards ready to show to captains at ALL times. Members must sign in with full name and write legibly. Captains will only accept active membership cards as evidence of a member's rating level. Captains will not review nor accept "evidence" of a rating that has not been approved by the rating coordinators (for example your DUPR or Tournament rating). If you have requested a change in your rating level, please note that our captains cannot accept your new, higher rating level until that rating has been approved by our rating coordinators and updated on the SAPC website; once that occurs, the member can access and/or print their membership card reflecting their new rating level.
Please watch the Outdoor Play Calendar, Facebook updates and WhatsApp group chat for possible changes due to weather and cancellations. Any such cancellations will come through social media due to time constraints.
If you haven’t joined these groups please consider doing so. The WhatsApp groups that are set up for each rating level are a great for organizing social play with other members as well as other pickleball related communication. Go to the SAPC website and under the members tab you will find links to join these social media groups.
Please note that during May and June many St. Albert schools will have times assigned to them on the Alpine courts; it is impossible to note all of these changes in the Outdoor Play Calendars because of the variety of times. A communication explaining all of this will be sent out during the last week of April.
All sessions are drop in except for the following sessions which require pre-registration:
- Partner play (see more details below)
- DUPR play sessions - the 3.0 on Monday evening and 3.5 on Wednesday evening
Note: All members with 3.0 or 3.5 ratings will receive notification about when the play opens for the DUPR registration; registration times vary according to when you receive the email.
- League play on Thursday evenings for 4.0+ (see the article above for further details)
Please Note:
- Be ON TIME for Round Robin sessions (we recommend 10 to 15 minutes before the official start time)
- Before Club play has started members are expected to use their own pickleballs.
- Members must never go into the Captain's bag
- If members hit a ball outside of the court they are expected to retrieve it after the game, not at the end of the session
- Only water is allowed on the courts (many members do like to socialize outside the courts at the nearby picnic table)
- The City will have a port-a-potty in place starting May 1st
Partner Play
Members need to register for Partner Play sessions. The sessions open on the Friday at 12:01 am. Only ONE member of the team only needs to register.
It is so important that if you register for partner play and you cannot attend, please cancel as there are always people on the waitlist.
If you are a no show for Partner Play this will be noted and if this happens a second time, you will not be allowed to register in the future as this causes so much extra work for the captains and there are always too many members on the waiting list.
Have fun and enjoy another wonderful outdoor pickleball season!
Thanks,
Eileen McClean
Special Olympics update from Gary C.
Do you love pickleball and find it personally rewarding to help out others? Have we got an opportunity for you!
The 2023 inaugural year of Special Olympics pickleball was such a success that we just had to do it again this year. We are so lucky to have almost all of last year's volunteer coaches returning, but there is a need for another 6 to 8 coaches.
The plan is to run the program Tuesday nights from 6:30 to 7:45 pm at Alpine from June 4 to July 23 inclusive. We play on courts 7 through12 with 2 to 4 coaches per court depending on the need.
Gary Cheetham is the program lead, providing support and direction to make the experience enjoyable for everyone.
Here are the requirements:
-
Patience and a desire to share your love of the game with an enthusiastic group of new players with an intellectual disability
-
The ability to pass a vulnerable sector check (VSC). There is no cost and the form is provided for you to take to your local police detachment (you do not have to be a resident of St Albert)
-
Complete a 1.5 hour Sport Alberta online module that helps prepare you to be a successful coach of Special Olympic athletes
Please call or text Gary at (780)901-0005 by April 30th if you are interested in getting involved.
Non-SAPC Tournaments
We have been asked to advertise the following tournaments on behalf of other clubs in our province:
Medicine Hat Pickleball Club
The Medicine Hat Pickleball Club is extending an invitation to all members to come play in the Medicine Hat Pickleball Open Tournament on Friday, July 5th to Sunday July 7th, 2024. For more information check the following link:
Medicine Hat Pickleball Club Open Tournament
According to MHPC they have a beautiful outdoor 20 court facility with state of the art courts and look forward to welcoming everyone to the Hat in July!!!
St. Albert Rotary Club
The Rotary Club is holding a fund raising tournament on June 15th and June 16th. This event is a fundraising effort for St Albert community projects.
Registrations opened on April 15, 2024 just click this link.
They will need referees for the medal games and volunteers for other roles as well. If you are interested, please contact Daniela at ionitescudaniela@gmail.com .
We look for forward to seeing you there!!
Membership Breakdown by Rating Level
823 members have already renewed their memberships for 2024. As is typically the case, many of our members - particularly snowbirds - do not renew their Club membership until spring or early summer. To that point, we currently have well over a hundred members with a "renewal overdue status". If the majority of those members were to renew later this year, as we expect, we will have over 1,000 active members!
In terms of those members who have already renewed for 2024, the breakdown of those members as of mid-April (with comparative figures for March) are as follows:
March April (Current) Inc/(Dec)
No Rating 237 264 27
2.5 Rating 28 28 0
3.0 Rating 124 135 11
3.5 Rating 213 219 6
4.0 Rating 153 158 5
4.5+ Rating 18 19 1
Total Members 773 823 50
Until next time keep your paddle up!