Aiken Pickleball News

Aiken Pickleball, Inc

On January 18th, 2023, Aiken Pickleball took the first step in becoming a non-profit organization at the request of the City of Aiken. This resulted in Aiken Pickleball, Inc (API) being awarded the contract to host the Palmetto Invitational Pickleball Doubles Tournament this August and to continue to manage the City's indoor pickleball programs at Odell Weeks and Smith-Hazel Recreation Center. You should not notice any changes with Aiken Pickleball, Inc.

As we get more organized, we are going to try to raise funds by offering memberships to Aiken Pickleball, Inc to help offset some additional costs we are incurring such as general liability insurance, legal fees, CPA fees, and a city business license. The benefits of memberships will be discounts on lessons, clinics, and drills with Little Mo, tournament registration fees, sporting clothes, and new pickleball paddles. These discounts will more than offset the annual cost of an official API membership.

Everyone that plays pickleball indoors at Odell Weeks, Smith-Hazel and/or Gregg Park and/or outside at one of the numerous outdoor courts available in the Aiken area is by default a member of Aiken Pickleball. Whether you decide to take an extra step and take advantage of discounts offered by being a paying member of Aiken Pickleball, Inc. is up to you. This also provides a way for those of you that cannot volunteer your time to contribute. Either way you can still make weekly indoor court reservations. Nothing has changed.

Pickleball for Parkinson's

Clinics for Pickleball for Parkinson's are currently being offered at Hillview Baptist Family Life Center at no cost. The clinic are open to anyone with Parkinson disease, Essential tremors, or other movement disorders . Classes meet at 10 am Monday and Wednesday.

To sign up or get more information, email Nelson Swartzentruber at. truber3066@gmail.com

Pickleball really can change your life.

Open Scramble

Thanks to everyone that participated in the Open Scramble. In addition to having a great time we also managed to fill the donation box for Golden Harvest. Next event is a Round Robin at Gregg Park, Saturday, June 24th - men's, women's and mixed, so grab a partner and click here to register. More information below.

Minutes from March 6th Leadership Team Meeting posted

The minutes for March 6th Leadership Team meeting have been posted. Topics discussed were: Pickleball for people with Parkinson's; Membership to Aiken Pickleball Inc; RR at Gregg Park; Time slots at Odell Weeks; Tournament Director for the Palmetto announced; League play in the spring and much more. Click here to read the full report.

Looking for Games

We are updating our "Looking for Games" (LFG) sign up. If your entry does not include contact info it will be removed. If you no longer want to be on the list please click here to remove your name.

THE "LFG" SIGN UP IS NOT MEANT FOR BEGINNERS We have made a separate sign up just for beginners called Beginners-Games. Beginners click here to sign up. Don't forget to include your contact information - phone number and/or email address in the comments section. If you need help with any of this, send an email to our help desk info@aikenpickleball.com

Changes to signups - Important please read

In an attempt to give everyone a better chance at making a court reservation the following sign up procedures are in effect starting Feb 2.

At 8am on Thursday morning a person will only be allowed to reserve two courts. After 8am on Friday, players can reserve two additional courts. After 8am on Saturday there are no restrictions on the number of courts that may be reserved. Important - Any court reservations on Thursday or Friday reserving more than two courts will be deleted. Reservations must include two complete last names and first initials. The daily two court limit is for Odell Weeks and Gregg Park (two courts per day each).

Golden Harvest Box is Back

The food box for the Golden Harvest Food Bank is located underneath the Aiken Pickleball bulletin board. Thanks, Jean Villa, for making it so attractive!

So, when you’re planning your next trip to play pickleball grab a can or a box and drop it in the donation box. Mike Howard and his crew will see to it that the food is collected and donated to Golden Harvest.

Drop-in play format

Drop-in play is held in gym 2 at Odell Weeks most weekday mornings. (See calendar for exact dates.) The format for this is mixed level play (all skill levels playing together) 8:45 - 10:00 AM and court designation play (courts separated by skill levels) from 10:00 - 11:00. We'd like to ask all players to be prepared to move to the court designation format at 10:00 AM. A separate paddle cue should be placed over by Court 6 for the 3.5 and above for use on Courts 5 and 6.

Pickleball New Rules for 2023

Pickleball: New rules for 2023 — No spin serves and watch what you wear. Click here for the 2023 Official Rule Book with all the changes.

Pickleball with a Purpose

Sometimes, all it takes is one person or one group of people with initiative to make a big difference. Such is the case with Mike Howard and his pickleball group. For a while now, this group has been bringing non-perishable food items to their games to be donated to the Golden Harvest Food Bank. This past November, they upped their game by promoting a canned food drive throughout the entire pickleball community. Volunteers picked up donations at the Smith Hazel, Odell Weeks, and Gregg Park recreation areas. By the end of the food drive, a whopping 369 pounds of food were donated to Golden Harvest by the pickleball community.

But it doesn’t end there. The same small group of people held a raffle to raise money for Golden Harvest, which advertises that for every $1 raised they can provide three meals. For several weeks in December, this group sold raffle tickets, culminating their efforts on December 18 at the Dink for Tots event held at the Virginia Acres Park pickleball courts. By the end of the day, they had raised $1,005, which translates to 3,015 meals at a time when demand for food resources is at a high because of inflation and supply chain issues.

The initiative of just a few people along with the generosity of the entire pickleball community has made an incredible impact to the Aiken area: 369 pounds of food and an additional 3,015 meals. That’s cause for celebration. That’s Pickleball with a Purpose.

Ed Chavis of Golden Harvest, Beth Eberhard, and Mike Howard with the donated food items and representative check.