Aiken Pickleball News

Lessons are back!

Starting next Friday, July 24th, lessons with Mo and Megan are back - four one hour sessions available from 1145am-345pm. Contact your favorite instructor to sign up.

Mo Garcia and Megan Hollenbeck are available for private and semi private lessons. Grace Vance will not be offering any lessons at the moment due to Covid 19 pandemic. Please go to the "Contact us" page on the main menu to contact Mo and Megan

$40.00 per person - 1 hour private lesson (1-2 players)

$20.00 per person – 1 hour semi-private lesson (3-4 players)

Please contact the instructors directly for available times.

Payment must be made prior to class at the front desk

Please furnish the instructor with a receipt.

Bob Stevens

Aiken Pickleball player Linda Stevens' husband, Bob, passed away at their summer home in Blowing, North Carolina with Linda at his side. She is feeling at peace now that the struggling is over. She will be returning to Aiken this fall.

His obituary appeared in the Aiken Standard today (7/10/2020)

Minutes for Leadership Meeting have been posted

The minutes for the Leadership Team Meeting that was held Tuesday, July 7th, 2020 at 5:30pm have been posted. The meeting was held using Zoom Video Conferencing Software.

Topics that were discussed included the new open play at Gregg Park starting Tuesday, July 14th;

A change in Odell courts reservations sign up - on Saturday players may now make an unlimited number of reservations for the remainder of the week with no restrictions; a reminder to all that the policy we are following for COVID-19 is basically the State's policy. Go to Forums or click here to see the full details.

The next meeting is scheduled for Monday, August 3rd, at 5:30 pm via Zoom.

Mid-Atlantic/Atlantic Region Restructuring Announcement

The USA Pickleball Association is growing at an exceptional rate thanks to the work of the volunteer Ambassadors who help to spread the word and devote their countless hours supporting local pickleball programs across our nation. As this expansion continues, the borders of our Regions are beginning to burst at the seams. With that in mind, we wanted you to be the first to know that the we are pleased to announce the addition of the new NORTH MID-ATLANTIC REGION as our twelfth USA Pickleball Region. This new region will change the Mid-Atlantic, which currently services ten states, to a plan of six states, which you can see in the mapping below. The state of New York, which has been in the Atlantic Region, will now be part of the new NORTH MID-ATLANTIC REGION.

There were many factors that went into the decisions to create these new borders, and in the end, it came down to the current population numbers and developmental capacity for this new region. After several months of planning, the USA Pickleball Board of Directors has given the “Green Light” to move forward.

One of the biggest benefits of adding a new region is making the service areas for our Ambassadors more manageable, allowing them to provide better service. In addition to local and recreational coverage, this new region will be added to the existing lineup of Regional Championship Tournaments for those who are regular tournament players hoping to show off their talents in the 2021 season.

We are extremely excited as we expand our regional coverage to better serve the growth of the USA Pickleball brand. There is still a lot to be done to make this change official. There will need to be new logos, official USA Pickleball regional paperwork, post and interview for a new Regional Director and more. The current districts will remain the same and will only change as needed to accommodate the growth of membership and the addition of new Ambassadors to the program areas. We just ask for your patience during the changeover to the new borders and as we make necessary leadership adjustments. The next few months will be a new look and beginning for the Atlantic coast regions, but until we have all the information laid out in an official capacity, we will continue to run as normal.

We hope to have the new region up and running within the next few months, so stay tuned for more details. Below you will find the new map of the reorganized Upper Atlantic Shore Regions.

Gregg Park Civic Center to re-open for Pickleball - Tuesday, June 23.

Indoor pickleball will resume at Gregg Park Civic Center starting Tuesday, June 23. The times available will be Tuesdays and Thursdays 10:30 AM – 1:30 PM and Saturdays 9:00 AM – 12:00 PM. To accommodate Day Camp, there will be no weekday play the weeks of July 6, July 20, and July 27, although Saturdays will still be available those weeks. The Center is currently scheduled to be open for play on Saturday, July 4th.

Courts 1, 3, 4, and 6 will be open for reservation play only. Courts 2 and 5 will remain closed in the interest of social distancing.

Reservation slots will be 10:30 AM – 12:00 PM and 12:00 – 1:30 PM on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and from 9:00 – 10:30 AM and 10:30 AM – 12:00 PM on Saturdays. Players are allowed to reserve a slot two days per week at the initial sign-up on Thursday mornings (the slots can not be back-to-back), and one additional slot if there are still times available the next day. If a group has the early slot and there is no one signed up for the later slot on that court that day, the group may continue to play. On Saturday morning, members may reserve any slots that remain open.

A minimum of 2 players and a maximum of 6 players will be allowed on each court. Paper towels and disinfectant will be available for sanitizing.

Players must sign a waiver the first time they play. Upon arrival, each player will have their temperature taken by a non-contact thermometer. Anyone having a temperature 100.3 degrees or higher will not be permitted to enter the Center.

To reserve court time, visit aikenpickleball.com and go to the sign-ups tab on the main menu. Select GPCC Reservations. Slots for the following week will be posted at 8:00 AM on Thursdays. You do not need an account to reserve court time, but it's easier to edit your reservations if you have a free Sign-up Genius account.

Please observe the social distancing guidelines as recommended by the USAPA at https://www.usapa.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/COVID-19-RETURN-TO-PLAY_USAPA.pdf.

2020 Palmetto Doubles Invitational Cancelled

Thanks to all of you that took the time to provide feedback in the survey regarding the 2020 Palmetto Indoor Tournament. After review of the survey results and consideration of the uncertainties associated with these unprecedented times, the tournament leadership team and the City of Aiken Parks, Recreation, and Tourism have decided that hosting the tournament this year is not feasible due to reduced/limited participation and the probable negative outcome of hosting a tournament that falls short of the previous success that the Palmetto tournament has been known for. We fully expect to host the tournament in 2021, when things return to normal, and hope that we can organize a local round robin event to feed everyone’s thirst for competition before then.

Jeff Beckner

Tournament Director

Update - Indoor play at Odell - as of 7/29/2020

Lots of new items on the calendar for Odell Weeks in August.

Evening play on Fridays, August 21 and 28, until 8:45pm

Lessons with Mo and Megan. Four slots available each Friday starting at 1115am. Contact your favorite instructor to sign up.

Over half of the time slots for August have been extended to 1 hour 45 minutes or 2 hours.

Thursday morning after 8am, you can make up to three (3) court reservations; one additional one on Friday; and from Saturday on whatever is available. The only restriction - they cannot be at the same time on the same day. The reservation must include at least one other player (first initial, last name). A maximum of 6 players are allowed on or beside each court. If anyone needs help making or editing a court reservation contact George Carr for assistance - gfcarr146hr@gmail.com.

The last group scheduled for each court needs to take the nets down and put them and dividers away. Don't forget to wear a face mask when entering and exiting the building and remember to have fun.

Indoor Play at Odell

On Monday, June 1st, Odell Weeks re-opened for indoor play - court reservations only - just one of the many safeguards they implemented for our safety. Odell changed the entrance to the one adjacent to Gym 2. They moved the check-in desk into the lobby by the bulletin board, with Jeana behind a plexiglass divider. Only Gym 2 and the mens and ladies room were open. The courts open for play were staggered so there was no interaction between other players. No extra players were permitted. Times were spaced out so between reservations the staff could wipe down the four chairs on each court. The entire Odell facifilty was dedicated to pickleball from 9am-3:45pm. Odell has done everything they could to provide a safe environment for us to play pickleball indoors. One group of players even wore masks while playing. They had to feel safer than shopping at Publix.

As the reservations got off the a slow start, individual players were allowed to make additional reservations for the week. Only two players took advantage of this. For next week, this Thursday morning at approximately 8am, players will be able to make two court reservations, and a third reservation Friday morning - same as for this week. Depending on the demand at the sign-up for courts for the week of June 8, we may also loosen the restrictions for that week. Odell has just approved allowing a maximum of five players per court effective immediately. With the facility just reopening, the City representative also stated that they will revisit the reservation spreadsheet in a few weeks. The hope is that more people will come out to play Pickleball over a period of time as they feel more comfortable.

Update to Guidelines for Court Reservations at Odell Weeks

Due to low demand for the indoor courts at Odell Weeks for the week of June 1, players will be allowed to add reservations for an unlimited number of days for this week only. Depending on the demand at the sign-up for courts for the week of June 8, we may also loosen the restrictions for that week. As for the sign-up on June 4, though, players may still reserve/play on only two courts per week and reserve one additional court the morning of June 5.