Squeegees, Players, and Nets Ahoy!

Everyone is pleading to go inside to play, although early December brought the Seattle metro area some spectacular sunny and low-wind days for outside play. Until we have Covid under control, the city and state regulations will severely curtail indoor play. Bundle up, and visit Shoreview parks and play on the new semipermanent nets. Squeegee off the overnight rain or morning drizzle with SMPA-provided squeegees at Miller and Shoreline and in West Seattle, and play. The pickleball venue scheduling site, PlaytimeScheduler, rolled out a premium version that lets you, for a small annual fee, get more information about the scheduled games and set other limits to your scheduled play group.

2021 SMPC Planning

While we are all dodging COVID by physical distancing, wearing masks, avoiding indoor play and large groups, the Seattle Metro Pickleball Classic (SMPC) tournament committee is meeting every other week or so to keep on track. Will the tournament happen? That question will be settled for certain when Shoreline can issue a permit early in 2021. However, the tournament planners are committed to having a tournament of some kind and will work with Shoreline to hold a safe event.

What that means for all of our local players and SMPA members is this: we welcome volunteers now and during the tournament. Referee clinics will resume in 2021, and a springtime raffle will help with early round fundraising to offset tournament operating expenses. Speaking of raising money, do you know you can donate even now through the SMPA website? When you join or renew your SMPA membership, look for a special box to add a donation for the tournament. If you have other ideas or want to volunteer, fire off an email and let us know.

Check your schedule and save the tournament dates, July 22 to July 26, 2021 and if you can, sign up for a volunteer slot on our SignUp Genius page.

Mayor’s Coffee Klatch

Many SMPA Board and general SMPA members were online on October 23, 2020 to hear Seattle Mayor Durkan respond to questions submitted in advance to the Mayor. SMPA member Sarah Webb posed an excellent question, “Pickleball is a wonderful sport for seniors. Despite being the birthplace of pickleball, Seattle has no dedicated pickleball courts and limited places to play compared to other cities. We have regularly communicated with SPR about this to no avail. Can you do something to remedy this situation?” The Mayor’s response to the question was both surprising and disappointing: “This is the first time in three years that I have heard about pickleball.”

Following the Mayor’s event, SMPA sent the Mayor a letter that outlines all of the efforts that have been made by the pickleball community, urging SPR, the City Council, and her office to provide more pickleball venues and play opportunities. The letter is posted on our SMPA website. Not surprisingly, there’s been no response to this or other written questions that were submitted to the Mayor by SMPA members.

Permits for Seattle Courts

SMPA is currently working with Lifelong Recreation Southwest District Coordinator, John Hasslinger, to extend SPR issued permits authorizing pickleball play at several outdoor courts. These permits give pickleball players use priority on the shared tennis courts for specific days and times. The current permits expire December 4th, 2020, so we need to find a way to extend the dates so that outdoor play can continue during the winter months. We will keep you posted as the efforts continue.

Rescheduled PIG Tournaments

In deference to COVID restrictions in the state of Washington, Pickleball Is Great (PIG) rescheduled their early December 2020 tournament. PIG still has on the schedule the Holiday Pickleball Smash tournament at the Eastside Tennis Center in Kirkland on December 31, 2020. Early registration ends on December 23, 2020, so if you’re up for celebrating the end of 2020 with a fun tournament, this is it!

SMPA President’s Winter 2020 Message

Friends,

What does SMPA do when the days grow short? We’ve spent the past several weeks continuing to advocate for more pickleball venues and working to facilitate outdoor play.

On the proactive side of things, there were some great wins for SMPA.

With the funds raised by the Shoreview pickleball players and other area players, plus matched funds donated through SMPA, we completed the purchase of the semipermanent nets at Shoreview. The nets were delivered to Shoreline Parks department and then a volunteer work party assembled them onsite at Shoreview Park. Players expressed appreciation for SMPA’s work on this project, and likewise, SMPA was happy to participate in this player-driven project.

We purchased, assembled and distributed squeegees for outdoor courts (see photo) at High Point and Delridge in West Seattle, Miller on Capitol Hill, and Shoreline courts to give our pickleball players the ability to remove excess water and play during winter weather. Judging from the feedback, the squeegees are being well utilized and are, figuratively, a smash. We expect to purchase more squeegees for other locations this winter.

While proactive, yet more challenging, SMPA engaged with the city of Seattle and later Shoreline on important pickleball-related concerns.

Several SMPA members attended the Mayor’s online Coffee Klatch (see article). We intend to continue opening channels to the Mayor’s office to make sure that pickleball isn’t just a sport she plays poorly, and is something worthy of Parks and Rec funds for courts both indoors and out.

The Lifelong Recreation Advisory Council (LLRAC) also sent a letter to City council member Lorena  Gonzalez and copied the Mayor, the SPR Superintendent, and the SPR Director of Recreation, asking for more pickleball venues. More to the point, LLRAC requested that monies be included in the five-year Restoration of Sports Courts budget for adding more pickleball lines on outdoor tennis courts.

Last month, SMPA Board members, led by Frank Chiappone, presented a PowerPoint proposal to Shoreline City and Parks officials for a public-private joint venture to develop a dedicated pickleball facility at Shoreview Park. Although the presentation was well received, the Shoreline representatives reported back that, presently, insufficient funds existed to act on our proposal. They did encourage us to stay in touch for further discussion when their pandemic-driven circumstances change.

In every dealing with city governments we are reminded that our effectiveness as an organization is dependent upon our membership. We encourage you to renew your membership, so critical to our ability to continue to advocate for pickleball and to provide wide ranging benefits to the pickleball community. SMPA membership is the best $20 investment you can make to the sport we all love. Most annual membership renewals begin early next year, however your early renewal lets you take advantage of also making year-end charitable gift to our pickleball-specific organization. You can make donations any time of year on Member Planet.

I look forward to engaging with all of you in 2021 to address the many challenges in expanding pickleball in the greater Seattle metropolitan area. Until then, I wish you all happy, peaceful and healthy holidays.

Jerry Kindinger

President, Seattle Metro Pickleball Association

Good Weather Brings Crowds

The contractors resurfaced courts at the Green Lake East Pickleball Courts, however the relining reduced the number of courts. With only 6 courts, there can be long waits on the weekends. Consider taking your group of players to Bitter Lake (nets required) or Shoreline Park Courts.

www.timeforpickleball.com/LocationsAnother option is Shoreview Park courts in Shoreline, where there are 4 new semipermanent nets, and increasingly larger crowds of players. Check out playtimescheduler.com for groups scheduling play there, and consider later in the day to avoid packing the courts.

COVID and Better Pickleball

CJ Johnson of Better Pickleball chats with local Seattle pickleball player (and retired pathologist) Sarah Webb on CJ’s YouTube channel to discuss some of the risks of transmission we face during this pandemic. Give them a listen, and practice safe distancing and other guidelines on the courts. And off.

No Indoor Pickleball Says SPR

Seattle Community Centers will not reopen for indoor play in the foreseeable future due to Covid. In fact, a few community centers are slated to remain closed for all of 2021 to allow for restoration. SMPA and LLARC expect to work closely with SPR to ensure that indoor pickleball is available as soon as possible when the centers reopen.

Join a Sammamish Commission

City of Sammamish is looking for a few good people to fill out their various City commissions, including arts and Parks. This is your chance, if you are an eastside player and reside in Sammamish, to join Parks Commission and be a voice for pickleball. Visit here to learn about the Sammamish Parks and Recreation Commission.

Join

Now is as important a time as ever to join or renew your SMPA membership. When you click the Join or Renew button, you’ll be taken to the MemberPlanet website. MemberPlanet securely manages our membership database so we can focus on pickleball development. Whether you become a Lifetime Member or select a year-to-year renewal, your membership shows that you are committed to the work of SMPA in helping grow pickleball in the Seattle metro area. Your membership qualifies you for a discount on gear with Pickleball Central and Smash Pickleball.

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We are grateful for your membership and if you have gotten a reminder, please take a moment and re-up. For those of you who left auto-renewal in place, the $20 charge will appear on your valid credit card.

Let’s Play, Seattle! And Kent and Bellevue and Mercer

The calendar may still indicate fall, but the wet weather is an announcement that winter isn’t far behind. You’ll be able to play, bundled up when it’s cold, however the courts may need a little help. If you are playing in Shoreview Park in Shoreline, there is a tournament squeegee available to remove water from the courts for play. Caveat: courts eventually drain, may need some help to dry off, and yet still be unsafe for play. Use at your own risk. And be a good pickleball neighbor, too, by hauling old towels to the courts to help dry them off on those days when they need a little help.

With the exception of Woodinville Sports Center and SeaTac, and a handful of other locales, there is no indoor play in Seattle for the coming months, thanks to COVID. Wear your mask, haul along a towel or two, and join the drop in play underway. Look at any day of the week and at the times indicated with a round bubble on the playtimescheduler.com calendar. Add your name to be to be notified of scheduled games.

Pickleball is (Still) Great

Many of you may know from seeing the activity start up all around the country that tournaments are still a thing. Pickleball Is Great (PIG) director Mike Hoxie is running the following tournaments in December, with attention to COVID-safe play.

Registration opens shortly for these local-to-Seattle metro area tournaments at Woodinville Sports Club (WSC) and the Eastside Tennis Center (ETC).

• Dec 4-6, 2020 – WSC NW Washington Winter Holiday Classic (Woodinville)
• Dec 17-2020 – ETC/Kirkland Winter Holiday Slam (Kirkland)

Mike and his PIG team (see sidebar intro) were responsible for the very successful SMPC tournament in 2019, run a tight show, and point out that in many instances there is likely more congestion and a greater number of players during recreational drop-in play than at today’s tournaments.

Additionally, PIG is discouraging spectators due to COVID concerns, and plans the following to help comply with local and state COVID-safe guidelines.

• Stagger start times to avoid check-in congestion
• Increase sanitization of everything (balls, clipboards, pencils, baskets)
• Limit number of players within a specific area of the facilities
• No onsite posted scores; players to monitor through personal mobile devices

Are Parks and the City Really Listening?

SMPA work with Seattle Parks and Recreation (SPR) to increase pickleball opportunities stalled out in the past several months with a decided lack of response, lack of communication, and lack of follow through on previous SPR commitments. Blame COVID in part, however we are all still paying taxes and looking for opportunities to keep fit and enjoy the many outdoor facilities in our local parks.

To promote increased pickleball outdoors during Covid, a volunteer group of SMPA members worked with John Hasslinger, Life Long Recreation Southwest Coordinator, to draft proposed set of Rules for Safe Return to Play. The goal was to act in partnership with SPR and develop a set of rules that could be supported both by the City and the pickleball community and posted on all public courts. After the rules were submitted to SPR well over two months ago, SPR never responded, let alone acknowledged the submission.

Also ignored were SMPA efforts to work with SPR to develop an outdoor recreation pickleball program during COVID. Adding to that, the program application form (apparently required by SPR), necessary to make sure that indoor PB is included in the programming when the community centers open up again, has yielded only silence. Consequently, to our knowledge, nothing is being done by or communicated by SPR about plans for a return to drop-in programs when the Covid restrictions lift.

Finally, and perhaps most disappointing, the Mayor’s Proposed Parks Budget scheduled for approval and passage in November looks at best grim. You can view it online. We recommend that you search the “Sport Court Restoration Program” at page 107. Note that no money is allocated for sport courts for the years 2021 to 2026! This indicates no money whatsoever is budgeted for anything related to outdoor pickleball for the next five years. For the last two years, the pickleball community has doggedly responded to every SPR survey, public meeting, public event invitation of any kind to advocate for more pickleball venues and play opportunities. In addition, SMPA representatives attended countless meetings with SPR representatives to personally deliver our message, that facilities in Seattle lag behind similarly sized cities, and pickleball loses out to tennis for court priorities.

After each of these solicitations, SPR leaders, City Council members, and others repeatedly communicated that they “heard us,” they understood the importance of pickleball as a priority, and that they would address it. In light of this budget, these assurances and apparently convenient words ring hollow. SMPA has proven to be an attentive, participatory, engaged, and representative partner in dealings with the City of Seattle. Our question is this: they keep asking for input, but are they really listening?

Pickleball Mind Reset

Have you ever found yourself making the same error over and over again? Just like when you go to do something on your phone but it’s not working. You call tech support and they ask you if you have tried rebooting it or updated the software recently? It’s time for “mindset reset.”

For example, in the middle of a match you keep making the same unforced error over and over. With each missed ball or serve, you become more frustrated and can’t stop yourself. That is because you are running on “old reflex programming.” To change that takes a conscious effort to look at how you can improve. I recommend you take these steps.

• First: Take four slow, deep breaths, something known as box breathing. This helps get oxygen to your brain to help you to think more clearly which can keep you from going into that negative emotional sinkhole. The military trains combat soldiers with this technique so that they can make good decisions in the midst of a crisis.
• Second: Be aware of the comments you say to yourself, as the negative talk is programing your subconscious and reinforcing bad habits. For example, in the middle of a game, you’ve hit the ball so hard it takes out a low flying satellite. Your reflex may be to yell in frustration, “I keep hitting it too hard! Arrgh!!!” Your subconscious self is listening to what your conscious self is saying. Thus, your subconscious reflex response is to do what it just heard which is “hit it hard.” The result? You likely repeat the error.

You can consciously put the brakes on that cycle and reprogram your brain by asking: “What’s happening? What’s missing? What’s next?”

• Take a moment to ask, “What happened?” And recognize that “I faulted by hitting too hard.”
• Objectively look at how the error occurred by asking “What was missing?” In this case, a shorter swing and softer touch.”
• “What’s next?” You can help by doing a quick visualization and verbalization of the desired action. While you are waiting for the serve, see in your mind’s eye the movement you want to do and repeat to yourself “Shorter swing, softer swing.”

For a more in-depth discussion about this subject, take a look at a video I made. In the meantime, an error is neither good nor bad unless we label it as such. You can use your error as feedback for improving your game. Reboot by being objective in your self-assessment of errors, focusing on solution, practicing the correct action in your mind and in your words, and play on.

Check Out Green Lake East

The contractors are done, delayed by the smoke closures and rain and we now have newly resurfaced courts at the Green Lake East Pickleball Courts. Grab your paddles and pickleballs, and take advantage of the six pickleball courts lined on the tennis courts with the two semipermanent nets. Check out playtimescheduler.com for groups scheduling play there.

USA Pickleball Fall News

USA Pickleball members receive the magazine in email. For those not yet sold on supporting the national organization, you can still read their newsletter here.

Who is PIG?

You may have noticed the cute porcine logo associated with many pickleball tournaments, an indication that Pickleball Is Great, or PIG, is at work. They are a tournament management company with a passion for a superior player experience. Everyone at PIG brings years of personal indoor and outdoor tournament play experience, which influences how they approach each pickleball tournament.

PIG doesn’t run just your local tournaments; they help run the West, so far as tournaments go. As PNW tournaments make a slow comeback, outdoor tournaments are alive and well in the desert southwest. Need an escape from the winter rains? With flying now viewed as more COVID-safe, consider a trip to the desert. In addition to managing all AAU Pickleball tournaments, PIG is running a number of desert tournaments in Arizona and California, not to mention Utah. Check out the tournament calendar on pickleballtournaments.com to see what’s happening.

You can catch up with Pickleball Is Great by following on Facebook (PICKLEBALLISGR8) or joining their newsletter (send request to newsletter@pickleballisgreat.com).

Join

Now is as important a time as ever to join or renew your SMPA membership. When you click the Join or Renew button, you’ll be taken to the MemberPlanet website. MemberPlanet securely manages our membership database so we can focus on pickleball development. Whether you become a Lifetime Member or select a year-to-year renewal, your membership shows that you are committed to the work of SMPA in helping grow pickleball in the Seattle metro area. Your membership qualifies you for a discount on gear with Pickleball Central and Smash Pickleball.

We are grateful for your membership and if you have gotten a reminder, please take a moment and re-up. For those of you who left auto-renewal in place, the $20 charge will appear on your valid credit card.

Mayor’s Coffee Klatch

The Seattle mayor says she wants to hear from you about community needs and priorities. Here’s your chance to ask her to support pickleball.

• What: Age Friendly Seattle Civic Coffee Hour with Mayor Jenny Durkan
• When: Friday, October 23, 2020, 9:30 to 10:30 AM
• Where: https://bit.ly/AgeFriendlyLive

Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan will address Seattle community’s elders and talk about the City of Seattle’s 2021 budget during a virtual meeting. This will be a good occasion to ask her what she plans to do for Seattle’s pickleball players over 50.

Even better, you can ask her to support older pickleball players by providing semipermanent outdoor pickleball nets and, when the Seattle community centers reopen, by providing more opportunities for indoor pickleball all year long. If you fee like older pickleball players have been treated as second class citizens for too long, here is your chance to let her know.