September, 2022
In this issue discover two new gyms, join Pickleball El Paso on-line, make play move faster when court space is limited, and the next club t-shirt sale (ladies - you have been asking for a V neck ...).
Heads up - Facility Changes
The Where To Play tab at pickleballelpaso.com/where-to-play is updated regularly.
Goodbye ...
We are sorry to say goodbye to the YMCA on Snow Road. There was a loyal pickleball community there, however they are no longer able to offer us hours. Take care of yourself Sandra, you shall be missed, but not forgotten!
Hello!
Eastsiders - you have a beautiful new gym, Valle Bajo, that opened in 2020, and is offering PB hours on Wednesdays, 10:00 - 2:00, (first hour 1 court, then 2 courts), at 7380 Alameda (near Riverside HS).
Westsiders: Yay! The Don Haskins Rec Center, at High Ridge, which has been closed for a 2 1/2 years due to Covid testing and vaccinations, has reopened! We are currently playing there Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9:00 to 1:00, three
courts. The gym only has one net at this time, more are on order, so feel free to bring your own net. This compliments the MWF schedule that Galatzan offers.
Northeasters: The latest word on Nolan Richardson is that it will open in 2023.
What event to hold for 150 of your closest friends ...
We had a very successful Member picnic at the end of April, although the wait to play time was a bit long. Now we have twice as many members - yay! But without a facility, what type of event can we hold? We have considered splitting by levels, starting at different times, using multiple locations, doing scrambles ... If you have a suggestion please send it to pickleballEP@gmail.com with a subject line of "event suggestion."
T-shirt sale coming
By popular demand, we are getting pricing for a women's v-neck in dri-fit and we will again offer the "soft cotton" crew neck. Notices will be sent when all details have been worked out.
On-line Club Sign-up Now Available!
Tell your friends! You can now join Pickleball El Paso on-line here . A free lesson for new members is still available.
Tis the Season for "Candy Tournaments"
Gyms are asking us to publish their flyers, so please look at the home page of our club website here There are instructions for registering, candy, etc.
I will keep updating the website throughout the month of October. Veteran's is planning an event for Tuesday, October 18 - will post the flyer on the website when available.
Happy Trails Kathryn Watson
When Kathryn first came to El Paso, the only result a Google search would return for "Pickleball El Paso" was the Five Set Net facility, which had been closed for a few years. She started a FB page that had 8 members on October 1, 2021. Just 8. But beginning October 1 a few of us started crawling through the gym bleachers, advertising the FB page and asking players if they were interested in starting a club. They were! So the board was formed in November. Thank you for your contribution to PB in El Paso, and best of luck to you and Doug in East Texas.
Too Many Players For the Courts? Use Rally Scoring
That's the situation Terri (Okie) found herself in while visiting in Tulsa: 3 courts and 20 people waiting. So! They used Rally Scoring, similar to the conversion from old volleyball scoring to now. Rather than receive a point ONLY when serving, every rally scores a point. Therefore, if you are server one and you lose the rally, your opponent gets a point and the serve passes to your partner. The rotation of the serve remains, but for every single rally, someone will score a point. Games go to 15 points.
Other expediency options, for tournaments, include playing one game to 21 points in lieu of 2 out of 3 games or playing for a set amount of time, such as 25 minutes.
Las Cruces deadline October 16
If you are not a member of USA Pickleball you must sign up for that first ($37 for the year). This tournament is double elimination and there is a social event in the planning stages for Thursday night.
Play on,
Jamie Fisher
President, Pickleball El Paso Association