Aiken Pickleball News

The membership rates for the Gregg Park Civic Center will increase effective January 1, 2020, and the age cut-off for the senior membership will increase from 62 to 65 years. All seniors registered before January 1, 2020 will be grandfathered in with the current lifetime fee.

Dear Gregg Park Members and Guests,

Thank you for choosing Gregg Park Civic Center. We appreciate your business and look forward to serving you!  We are changing our fee structure to better reflect the value we provide to our customers.  We are changing membership fees to a single, more inclusive fee.  Group fitness and the weight room will be included in the membership price.  We are removing the in/out of boundary fees and will now be charging the same fee regardless of address.  Depending on your current membership, you may see an increase or decrease in the overall yearly fee.  Below you will find an updated fee schedule which will take effect January 1, 2020. The fees that are changing are listed below.  Any current fees not listed will remain the same.

Any memberships purchased before Jan. 1, 2020 will be purchased at the current fee structure and will be good 1 year from the date of purchase.

If you have any questions, please contact GPCC at 803-663-7552.

The annual recreation membership fee for non-city residents of Aiken has a new category - Senior (50+).  Annual rate is $50, which expires one year from date of purchase.  

Cost for non-city residents Individual ($75) and Family ($125) have not changed.

In case you haven’t noticed, we now have new nets at Odell Weeks.  And if you haven’t noticed you obviously haven’t tried to put one up.  Being brand new, they are a little tight but hopefully they will get easier to put up as the nets stretch out.  The good news is that only one rod is different – it’s male at both ends. Start with that one and just keep going as all the other rods are the same length. Don’t forget the center brace.

There is one slight change: the center net pole goes on one side of the center brace frame and the net goes on the other.  It’s not a big problem world if you have it backwards as it will still work; it is just designed that way.  Hint - after you get the frame together, try putting the net’s center pole in first and go from there.  If you are still having problems, don’t hesitate to ask someone for help.

And if you happen to discover a net tape that is broken, please roll up the net and take it to the front desk to be repaired.  In lieu of using duct tape as a quick fix, the nets are actually repaired by replacing the broken tape and then hand stitched.

During our annual Palmetto Doubles tournaments our referees always run into some interesting rule questions and our tournament in September was no exception.  We thought we’d pass on some of the more unusual issues for everyone to learn from.

Below is an example:

SITUATION: During a non-refereed doubles match, Player #1 on Team A struck a volley from outside the non-volley zone (commonly called “the kitchen”). Player #2 on Team A tried to hit the same volley but missed. After Player #1 struck the ball, his paddle hit Player #2’s paddle, knocking it out of Player #2’s hand and it landed in the non-volley zone. Team B claimed Player #2’s paddle constituted a non-volley zone fault because Player #1 had contacted Player #2 in the act of volleying.

QUESTION: Under USAPA Rules, was Team B’s claim of a non-volley zone fault valid?

ANSWER: Yes. Team B obviously knows the momentum rule or has been reading the “Ask the Pickleball Refs” Facebook page where this exact scenario has been discussed several times.  USAPA Rule 9.B governs. If it’s part of the volley momentum, the point at which Player #1 contacts Player #2, the two become one so it’s no different than if Player #1s paddle fell into the non-volley zone.