March 18, 2023
Proposals For Long Wait Times
As our members return from playing in other cities, we receive feedback on how other cities are dealing with overcrowding. Some are using rally scoring to 15, which means every rally gets a point, even if you are not serving.
Check out the paddle rack - 8 paddles waiting. One option for shortening wait time would be an 8/8 plan: when there are 8 paddles waiting per court, games should be limited to 8 points, regular scoring.
What are your thoughts? Should we adopt rally scoring to 15, an 8/8 plan or another option? Please send feedback to picklebalEP@gmail.com
Crowding: Is It Time to Speak Up?
Say you walk into a restaurant where half is completely full, and the other half empty. You think you can get a table but no, they tell you there is a 30 minute wait for the full side. The other half is
"reserved in case someone from the community wants to use it."
This is the situation at Chamizal. We use 1/2 of the facility while the other half is usually empty, "just in case someone from the community wants to use it." (Parks and Recreation Board meeting, March 8). Their Open Gym Guidelines state space is "first come, first serve," but they are not adhering to their own guidelines.
I have had several people send me videos of crowding, so I assumed everyone in the videos was unhappy about it. And yet, when I question players a few say they don't mind - they socialize. SO! Before we decide whether or not to pursue this, we need to know: are you okay with waiting 40 minutes, or not? Are you willing to do something about it?
On another note, two more gyms are scheduled to open soon. Will we get only one day, like ALL of the east side gyms?
If court time is important to us, the next step is City Council.
City Council meets every other Tuesday, downtown at City Hall. At noon they offer Call to the Public, during which any person is allowed to speak on any topic for up to three minutes. Ben and Terry Avalos, and I went last summer to tell them how much demand there is for pickleball. That's three people.
PEPA wants to know - how many people in our community would be willing to go to Call to the Public. Please send responses to pickleballEP@gmail.com I wrote a letter to City Council and the Mayor about Chamizal. I am, however, an army of just one. Also, what about the new gyms, and what is the status of the 8 permanent courts planned for Mary Frances Keisling? It is not easy getting the City to do things. If we want more gym time/courts we will have to be persistent.
Picnic and Pickleball
How does a Sunday afternoon playing and eating among friends sound?
Join Mayda Aguirre's Birthday Club, celebrating the birthdays of the month on the first Sunday of each month at Ascarate, beginning at 10:00 AM. Bring your favorite dish or takeout, OR make a $5 donation. To sign up email Mayda at mcbelt69@gmail.com. Not shown in this picture is Lia's lemon cake (yum) and the cupcakes that came out later. We celebrated birthdays for Marc, Dina, Adi, Jose, and Brian, who will also be deploying - safe travels.
Gym Tournaments
There are two candy tournaments left, one of which is on a Saturday:
Friday March 24, Galatzan
Saturday, March 25 Marty Robbins
Check our Home Page for the flyers.
Beginner Classes First Friday Each Month at Veteran's
Do you have friends asking you how to get started?
News From Ascarate
Rafa - this one is for you! They are looking into converting the halide lights on the pickleball court to LED.
How cool is this?! These are multi-use futsal/pickleball courts at Ascarate. The contrast color
of their center circle aligns to give a contrast color to our kitchen. Yeah baby! The are NOT OPEN YET. They have to be inspected and the contractor paid. There will be a ribbon cutting ceremony tentatively scheduled for mid-April - you know I will keep you posted.
Only two of the four concrete slabs have been painted. This is an experiment by the County. They want to see if there are problems/complaints when these multi-use courts are closed for a special event, as they are in that designated area. They also want to see how the two groups cooperate in sharing, so let's make this work.
Back at our four dedicated courts, the County is going to install a paddle rack with court rotation instructions. As you can see from this sign, this system came from Udall Courts in Tucson.
Don't forget to let us know if you are willing to go to Call to the Public - date will be arranged based on responses. Send responses to: PickleballEP@gmail.com
Play on,
Jamie Fisher
President, Pickleball El Paso Association