Who's Playing Where & When This Week of 5/8//16

News?

***Note: Tomorrow is the deadline for online registration for the GA Mt. Pickleball Spring Classic. Registration will be closed tomorrow night at 11:59:59, so don't delay! Here's the link: http://www.active.com/framed/event_detail.cfm?E4E=snrcz00000000&EVENT_ID=2143537&E4TS=1462101373&E4C=active&E4RT=Safetynet&CHECKSSO=0&E4H=a2ea63644788dd78cb753fe3cc9dc07f&E4Q=a0a7b121-e514-42eb-b601-ef2d13cc9407&E4P=41d99489-949e-4280-b92a-af9fa496c4a8

The NC Senior Games are going to be staged at the Hayesville outdoor courts this week on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings, so they won't be available for open play until after completion of the matches these days, probably around noon, or a little before.

McConnell Baptist Church in Hiawassee has events planned all week, so we will have no indoor play available there until Monday, May 16th.

The Hayesville Novice Clinics are being suspended until a new class instructor can be named.

There's a group of players that have started playing at the outdoor courts in Hayesville from 4:30 - 7:00 pm on Monday and Wednesday. If you're a working person, or missed your play during the regular open hours this is a good opportunity to get your play in.

I ran across a good link for several Pickleball drills: https://funattic.com/pickleball-drills.htm. The instructions are short and to-the-point so you don't spend a lot of time reading and trying to figure out, and remember, what was discussed. These should be especially helpful to the newer players, so take a couple of minutes and look it over.

Also, the same site has one on strategy which is very good as well: https://funattic.com/pickleball-strategy.htm

Playing Schedule This Week:

Venue	Sunday	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday
Lakeside Complex	Noon - Dark	Open All Day	Open All Day	Open All Day	Open All Day	Open All Day	Open All Day
Towns R.C.	Closed	9 am - 12 pm	9 am - 12 pm	9 am - 12 pm	9 am - 12 pm	9 am - 12 pm	No Play
McConnell Church	No Play	No Play	No Play	No Play	No Play	No Play	No Play
Hayesville R.C.	Closed	10:15 am - 2:00 pm	7:30 am -  12:00 pm (if weather inclement)	7:30 am -  2:00 pm	7:30 am -  12:00 pm (if weather inclement)	7:30 am -  9:15 am, 10:30 am- 2:00 pm	8:00 -  9:50 am
Hayesville Outdoors	Open 12:30 pm - ?	Open 12:00 pm - ? 4:30 - 7:00 pm	Open 7:30 am - ?	Open 12:00 pm - ? 4:30 - 7:00 pm	Open 7:30 am - ?	Open 12:00 pm - ?	Open 7:30 am - ?
Meeks Park	First Come	12 - 2 pm	9:30 am- 11:30 am	12 - 2 pm	9:30 am- 11:30 am	12 - 2 pm	First Come
1st United Methodist	No Play	No Play	1 - 3 pm	No Play	No Play	No Play	No Play
**Lakeside Novice Clinic	----------	----------	----------	----------	10 am - 12 pm	----------	----------
#Rabun County Rec. Dept.	Closed	9 am - 3 pm 6 - 9 pm	9 am - 3 pm 6 - 9 pm	9 am - 3 pm	9 am - 3 pm 6 - 9 pm	9 am - 3 pm	Call ahead  to Reserve

** Weather Permitting for Lakeside Novice clinic

# Please call the Rabun County Rec. Dept. before going to check availability (706-782-4600)

Deb Harrison Intense Training Workshops:

There are still some openings in the Deb Harrison Pickleball Workshops June 16th through June 18th, 2016! Deb Harrison needs no introduction to anyone that has ever visited the You Tube web site.........she has over 70 instructional videos devoted to improving your skill components in Pickleball and uses the "handle"  picklepongdeb or picklepongdebyoutube. Here's her web site: http://picklepongdeb.com/ and her Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100008037735199&fref=ts

There will be Fundamental Workshops for 2.0-3.0 level players, Intermediate/Advanced Workshops for 3.5 and above players, plus Private, Semi-Private, and Group Workshops available. These sessions will fill up fast, so get your registration in as soon as you can. Contact me or Peggy Castorri (pickleballpeggy16@gmail.com) if you need more information.

This is a great opportunity to step up your game with one of the best PBall instructors in the country.

Referee Training:

All of you that have attended past clinics, there are score sheets in the blue chest you may use to do practice games. Don't be bashful........just walk up to players ready to start a game and tell them you're going to be their referee for this game! When you have time,  go through the rules and try to gain a working knowledge of them.........here's the link to the rule book: http://ipickleball.org/rules/pbrules-ifp.pdf

This training is for ALL the players, regardless of skill level or experience, so don't be bashful about coming if you haven't been playing as long as some of the others........and, don't be bashful about coming even if you're a new player! Anyone can be taught how to do this. Also, don't feel like you need to be an expert on the rules before you attend the clinic. We'll work on this aspect during the next couple of weeks.

GA Mt. Spring Pickleball Classic, May 20th-21st: Registration closes once and for all tomorrow night one millisecond before midnight........see above remarks for the link. We have some quality instructors coming here to run clinicsThursday (May 19th) and Sunday (May 22nd). Byron Freso (https://www.facebook.com/byron.freso?fref=ts) and Marsha Freso, and from The Villages in FL, Diane (Dee) Ahern and Deb Harrison (https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100008037735199&fref=ts). Byron and Marsha are 5.0 players and are both highly ranked players in the country, Dee is probably the top 5.0 lady player in The Villages and Deb Harrison needs no introduction. Details will be out soon for information on how you can get registered for these great clinics.

Also, if you need to make any changes/amendments to your registration for this tournament you need to send the organizers an email message at: pickleballtournaments@gmail.com 

Visit us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/1230775256938949/ 

Fundraiser for Veteran's of Foreign Wars, American Legion's new building, July 4th: Details will follow soon.

Habitat for Humanity NE GA Pickleball Tournament in Cleveland, June 10th - 12th: Registration is now OPEN for this great fundraiser for Habitat! They will have 10 indoor Pickleball courts at the Middle & 9th school's three gyms (all in one location near Ingles in Cleveland) available all 3 days. This tournament is open to all skill levels and is set up so it will be a fun event for spectators as well! You don't have to be an advanced player to participate........you'll be paired with players of your own skill level. This will be a Round Robin format where you play with a different partner each game, which is always a lot of fun.  

To register, go to www.pickleballtournaments.com.  Click on the link at the top that says "Tournaments".  It drops down to give you more choices.  Click on "Tournaments by Country/State".  Click on "Ga".  Look for the Habitat logo for our June 10th - 12th tournament.  Click on the button that says "Register".

The GA Mt. Fall Classic, September 16-18 Tournament registration is open as well (http://www.pickleballtournaments.com/pbt_tlisting.pl?when=F). This tournament will be sanctioned by the USAPA and will have more of a national flavor. It's being organized by Pickleball Tournaments, LLC, headquartered in Arizona, who run all the major tournaments around the country, including the recently concluded Atlantic South Regional Tournament, and the upcoming U.S Open in Naples, FL.

Visit us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/1210967745585873/

USAPA Membership:

Those of you who haven't joined the USAPA I would urge you to do so. If you're thinking about playing in our tournament this September you need to be a USAPA member in order to play since it's going to be sanctioned by USAPA. Our membership on a per capita basis is below where it should be for our group, so go to the USAPA site and sign up: http://www.usapa.org/usapa-membership/

Novice Clinics:

The lakeside clinic scheduled for Thursday at 10:00 am is scheduled again weather permitting. Tell your friends or someone you know who's interested in learning the game to come on out. These clinics are absolutely free of charge and we supply everything  you need to begin play including loaner paddles and balls. Just be sure to wear non-marking shoes. Thanks to Peggy Castorri for her expert leadership with the clinic and to Judi Rhodes for her assistance last week. For those of you who have attended at least one clinic, there should always be some balls in the plastic chest by the main gate for you to use if you want to get in some practice time.

Pickleball (IFP) Rules:

If you haven't downloaded your free copy of the official rules, you may do so at:  (http://www.usapa.org/ifp-official-rules/). For those of you coming to the novice's clinic it would be helpful if you'll review sections 4-9 before the clinic.

Facebook Friends:

If you're on Facebook, go visit our Georgia Mountain Pickleball page and give us a "Like". This helps spread the word about our mountain region PBall activities. We currently have 776 Likes. https://www.facebook.com/GeorgiaMountainPickleball

Also, Mountain Lakes Pickleball now has their own Facebook page, so drop in over there and visit and give them a "Like". https://www.facebook.com/MountainLakesPickleball/

Playing Partners Needed:

John Hall has two men players looking for partners in the Spring PBall Classic May 20th and 21st. One in the 70+ 4.5-5.0 skill level looking for a partner in men's doubles, and the other is looking for a mixed partner at the 70+ 3.5 level.