MI Pickleball December/January Tournament Calendar

To view/download the registration form(s), click on the title of the tournament(s) that interest you. This list of MI Pickleball Upcoming Tournaments is also posted on the sidebar for quick and easy player access.

North Oakland YMCA Pickleball Tournament

• North Oakland YMCA, Auburn Hills
• Dec 6 2009
• Players Age 18+

Skills Drills AND Crazy Mixed Up Doubles Tourney

• Older Persons' Commission Gym, Rochester
• Dec 11 2009
• FILLED - Registration Closed
• Players Age 50+
  

Troy Holiday Smash 50+ Pickleball Tournament

• Troy Community Center Gym
• Dec 20 2009
• Registration Deadline Dec 11
• Players Age 50+

Troy Holiday Intergenerational Festival

• Troy Community Center Gym
• Dec 27 2009
• Registration Deadline Dec 18
• Players Age 18+/Partners 20 Years Apart in Age
  

Michigan Senior Olympics Winter 2010

• Auburn Hills Community Center Gym and
• Rochester Older Persons' Commission Gym
• Jan 25-Jan 27 2010
• Registration Deadline Dec 14
• Players Age 50+

North Oakland YMCA Pickleball Tournament

Young Men and Women Age 18 to 99

PLAYING MI Pickleball vs RAKING MI Leaves*

!!! NO CONTEST !!!

Learn/Practice Saturdays 2:00-4:30pm:

• Rochester Pickleball Club

Compete Sunday, December 6 at 12:30pm:

• North Oakland YMCA Pickleball Tournament

* Shoveling MI SNOW -- also no contest :O !

Laura Patterson's Pickleball Adventures - MI to NC

The usual pickleballmania flight pattern: SnowPicklers fly home from the Southwest or Atlantic South teaching and talking PICKLEBALL to players in the Great Lakes Region!

Here's an Atlantic South update about a former Michiganian that reversed the flight pattern. Laura Patterson was introduced to PICKLEBALL in the Midland Michigan area and is now serving as a USAPA Ambassador in North Carolina. Go Laura!

Laura Patterson, USAPA Ambassador (NC) -- MSO 2009

Laura Patterson, former Michiganian, is now serving as USAPA Ambassador in Winston-Salem, NC. Laura has been busy contacting local YMCA's in the Winston-Salem vicinity and in just a few short months has been successful at getting the opportunity to talk about and demonstrate this "new sport" to her area. On November 11th, Laura had the opportunity to set up a modified court and introduce the game to school children, senior citizens, families and the YMCA director and staff.

See photos of Laura and read more about her YMCA experience on the Atlantic South Region site here: http://south.usapa.org/2009/11/pickleball-introduced-to-winston-salem.html

USAPA Nationals Vendor Tent

Dick Manasseri writes:

Thanks to Coach Mo and Ken Allbert, Administrator of PickleballCoach.com the Michigan Pickleball Paddle logo was displayed at USAPA Nationals.
It was very cool to see the Michigan Great Lakes Pickleball Paddle there in the vendors tent where players met people like:

• David McCallum - Son of Barney McCallum, One of the Pickleball Creators
• Mary Littlewood - Pickleball Author
• Steve Wong - Founder of S-Type Paddles, Medal Winner
• Bunny Duey - USAPA Historian
• Nancy and David Jordan - Keepers of the USAPA Membership Table

Congratulations to Ken, for his medal winning performance at Michigan's Auburn Hills Community Center Turkey Tourney!

- Dick

Coach Mo's Pickleball Strategies and Techniques DVD available at PickleballCoach.com or from Tom Valentine of Pickleball Goodies !!

Michigan's BIG Game Weekend Awaits You!

Michigan's BIG Game Weekend:

• Auburn Hills Pickleball Turkey Tourney
• Blaze ORANGE Day in Michigan Woods

A picture of serenity,

Mr Buck looks oblivious to the calendar.

BIG Game Weekend doesn't phase him, because...

... Mr. Buck and his 12 closest friends
take year round sanctuary in my subdivision.

The BUCK stops here :O !

USAPA National Tournament Impressions by Yvonne Hackenberg

Hello Janet,

Thank you for the nice e-mail. We had such a rich experience in Arizona. Aren't pickleball players the best! This sport has afforded us so many great moments and introduced us to so many wonderful people. It's the same wherever we go.

In terms of the USAPA National Tournament experience...here are a few impressions:

• The Arizona soft game is alive and well in doubles. The third shot is often a drop shot into the kitchen. After that shot there is much "dinking around" until someone tragically dinks too high. Once they remove the ball from their groin, the cycle is repeated.
• The players don't try to do anything spectacular with the serve. Just deep (and sometimes high) to the backhand.
• It is very hot and dry in Arizona. There was very little time to recover between matches. Michiganians should find a 20 X 44 sauna to practice in before heading to Arizona.
• The vast majority of players display excellent sportsmanship.
• Pickleball is enjoyed by people of all ages and abilities.

I hope this persuades others to participate next year.

Thanks again for your support and encouragement. Also thanks to Marilyn Holladay, Pat Sullivan, Dick Manasseri, Dan & Joyce and the other Michiganians who rooted us on.

Yvonne Hackenberg
Action Gear, Inc.

Martha Wasserman (AZ/Michiganian for 50 Years)
USAPA Nationals GOLD Medalist

Dick Mannasseri (Rochester Hills, MI)
USAPA Director National and International Relations

Yvonne Hackenberg (Kalamazoo, MI)
USAPA Nationals SILVER Medalist

Martha and Yvonne carried the Michigan flag on the Nationals Winners Podium. Click here to see the photo: http://mipickleball.usapa.org/2009/11/medalist-parade-michigan-flag-at-usapa.html

Medalist Parade the Michigan Flag at USAPA Nationals!

"If you seek a pleasant peninsula, look about you."

Martha Wasserman, GOLD MEDALIST

and

Yvonne Hackenberg, SILVER MEDALIST

!!! Parade the Michigan Flag on the Winners Podium !!!

Congratulations to ALL of the

men, women, boys and girls who participated

in the 1st USAPA National Pickleball Tournament !!!

Saturday Afternoon Pickleball

Rochester Pickleball Club

Saturday Afternoon 2:00-4:30pm

Rochester Adams High School Auxiliary Gym

Experienced players from the USAPA will be on hand each week to provide beginner lessons and to organize play for families and other groups who want to have fun or work on their skills. Recreational Speed Pickleball will be part of the fun, plus competitive games for the adventurous.

All ages welcome! Teens aged 15+ may play without their parents with any picture ID. Equipment provided. Wear court shoes.

COST: $5. per person drop-in fee or discounted Pickleball Punch Card. Family Card $50. for 5 punches (one punch admits up to 5 people in one family). Individual Card $30. for 10 punches (one punch admits one person).

CONTACT: Marilyn Holladay at mhollada@gmail.com

Michigander Medals in Tier 1 Pickleball Tournament

!!! CONGRATULATIONS !!!

to

Yvonne Hackenberg (MI)

and her partner

Hilary Marold (TX)

USAPA 2009 National Tournament (Tier 1)

SILVER

Women's Doubles 55-59

and

Women's Masters 50-64

BRACKETS! RESULTS!

Coach Mo's Pickleball Technique Tweets

Pickleball Tips on Twitter by Coach Mo

"Pickleball Tip 25 - Your opponents only need a pulse to win the point if you miss the serve. Give them a chance to lose."

OH Yea! I'm all to familiar with that one :O !

Are you ready for more Pickleball Strategies and Techniques? Well now you can get more info from Coach Mo by following his tweets!

Learn more...

http://twitter.com/PickleballCoach

Singing Pickleball Pete

Next Up: Auburn Hills Pickleball Turkey Tourney!

NEXT UP:

Auburn Hills Pickleball

Turkey Tourney

Registration Form and Details:

http://usapa.org/file/mi/Auburn_Hills_Turkey_Tourney_2009.pdf

November 13 and 14

USAPA 2009 National Tournament! Schedule! Brackets! Results!

For Picklers following the USAPA 2009 National Tournament...

7 Day Schedule PoP! POp!

• Monday, November 2
  Men’s and Women's Doubles 65+
• Tuesday, November 3
  Men’s and Women's Doubles 19-64
• Wednesday, November 4
  Mixed Doubles 19 & over
• Thursday, November 5
  Masters & Legends Doubles
• Friday, November 6
  Men’s & Women’s Singles 19 & over, Open Mixed Doubles, Junior Mixed Doubles
• Saturday, November 7
  Open Men’s & Women’s Doubles, Junior Division Men’s & Women’s Doubles
• Sunday, November 8
  Open Men’s & Women’s Singles, Junior Men’s & Women’s Singles

Brackets! Results!

• USAPA National Tournament BRACKETS & RESULTS

Michiganders!

• Bob Cary, Sue Cary, Dan Clemence, James Hackenberg, Yvonne Hackenberg, Marilyn Holladay, Doug Kant, Mark Karwas, Larry Kraus, Dick Manasseri, James McIntyre, Laura Patterson, Joyce Staffen, Bud Stefanko, Pat Sullivan
• Others!?!

Welcome to the World!

For the family members following MI Pickleball...

The 1st of 5 babies our family is expecting was born today!

Welcomed to the world by four generations, thankful for the privilege of beholding Baby's miraculous newness and celebrating life in relationship with one another!

Praise be to Jesus Christ our Lord!

USAPA Pickleball Tournament Calendar, Software, and Sanctioning

The USAPA website is rich with content on how-to host a Pickleball tournament and how-to apply for USAPA sanctioning. Reading the USAPA guides is a time investment that pays off in high player satisfaction with a well run tournament. Here are the USAPA website sidebar titles to look for and the direct links.

1. Run a Tournament http://usapa.org/sanctioning/tournament_tips.html


2. Tournament Software http://usapa.org/tourney/


3. Sanctioning http://usapa.org/sanctioning/index.php


4. Rankings http://usapa.org/rankings/index.php


5. Official Rules http://usapa.org/officialrules/ and Scoresheet http://usapa.org/tournamentnews/OFFICIAL_USAPA_SCORESHEET.pdf


6. Training Room Referee Guide and Referee Clinic http://training.usapa.org/


7. Partner Search http://usapa.org/partner/partner.php

It is important to note that USA Pickleball Association desires to list ALL Pickleball tournaments on the USAPA Upcoming Events Calendar - sanctioned and unsanctioned, competitive and recreational.

"A USAPA-sanctioned tournament allows players to be ranked on a national basis. Non-sanctioned tournaments may also use these sections as guidelines. Tournament directors for non-sanctioned tournaments may be flexible in the use of these guidelines to better fit the skills, ages, and diversity of their players. The USAPA enthusiastically encourages these non-sanctioned tournaments to promote knowledge, growth of the game, skill development, and having fun while playing pickleball. Tournaments may be sanctioned for the ranked events that they include even though a tournament director may also choose to include recreational or unranked events."