April and National Pickleball Month
To celebrate National Pickleball Month, Seattle Metro Pickleball Association (SMPA) kicks off the election of new (and one returning) Board members on April 14, 2021. All SMPA members will be sent by email a ballot to be completed and returned before midnight on April 29, 2021, which will give us a few days to tally and ready the report to members on the online Zoom Annual Meeting of Monday, May 3, 2021.
Here are the key SMPA April and May dates:
- SMPA Board election emails sent April 14, 2021
- SMPA Board election ballots must be submitted April 29, 2021
- Online Annual Meeting Monday, May 3, 2021 at 7 PM (with 2 prize drawings) (check member email for Zoom link)
Keep track of SMPA for any breaking news or other fun stuff here.
- Facebook page
- email, and yes, even
- Twitter.
SMPC Tournament Signups Roar to Start
When the Seattle Metro Pickleball Classic (SMPC) tournament committee kicked of the start of registrations on Saturday, April 3rd, there was much anticipation about how quickly the registrants would grow to 300. The tournament, to be held Friday to Sunday, July 23 to 25, 2021, blasted to a record for this tournament in its second year (thanks to Covid restrictions). Early registration closes on June 1, 2021, and anyone registering up to that date gets a tournament tee as part of their registration.
Amy Yee Tennis Center Court Permits
Warm weather and longer days bring more players to the courts, and some of them are holding rental permits to play. A recent event led Amy Yee Tennis Center (AYTC) manager Matt Look to send to SMPA this letter with a plea to honor permits when players have paid for court time. That also means that if you want to secure the courts for your use or that of a group of players, you can go here to rent Seattle courts. Shoreline courts can also be rented. Check your local Parks department for their rental policies.
Hello SMPA Board,
We need your help. We had an incident at Green Lake last night, where a permit holder showed up for their court time and was told by the large group that was there that they could join in the group, or leave. They did not feel comfortable or welcome, so their group chose to leave. We ended up refunding the permit this afternoon.
We would like to avoid all conflicts like this at our sites. Permit holders will always have precedent over drop-in play. We hold at minimum 1 tennis court per site as drop-in (first-come, first-served). Groups (such as yourselves, SMASH Pickleball, etc…) can request to reserve the entire facility by calling our office.
We would request that the organization send out a message to your membership to please respect paid permit holders and vacate the courts if reserved. You can also direct players to our office to book individual courts.
Thank you,
Matt Look
Senior Recreation Specialist, Amy Yee Tennis Center City of Seattle, Seattle Parks and Recreation
Matt Look also included information on reserving courts with City of Seattle. Each court has its own availability page. Currently, Miller and Green Lake are the pickleball specific sites that can be reserved, and you can click the here to see the overview.
