Early on the morning of February 2, Phil rolled out of bed and trudged groggily to his front door. He stepped outside briefly and looked around. It was just another dreary, sunless winter day. Having fulfilled his mission for the morning, Phil went back into his home and went back to sleep, thereby forecasting 6 more weeks of winter. Well, maybe in Punxsutawney. But certainly not in Bend.
Brian Firebaugh, who hates indoor pickleball, has been spending lots of time at a makeshift altar on Pilot Butte providing sacrificial offerings to the weather gods to try and conjure up sunny warm days that will be suitable for outdoor pickleball. (Speaking of which, when was the last time anyone saw Anita?) His efforts must have pleased the gods because there has been more outdoor pickleball in Bend this winter than any winter in recent memory. Brian has been spending so much time at PNP that people are starting to think he owns it. One of our new members actually thought he was Werner Zehnder.
I got stuck behind a decrepit sedan with Arizona plates rolling down the parkway yesterday at 35 miles per hour. The left turn signal kept blinking for two miles and the driver’s seat belt dangled from the door and kicked up sparks as it bounced off of the roadway. It reminded me that in a very short time our fair weather friends will return to Bend. Before you know it, they’ll once again be clogging up the roundabouts, pissing off gas station attendants by trying to pump their own fuel, adding to the already long lines at Starbucks, taking up all of the available seats at the good restaurants and showing off their winter tans at the courts. Just kidding! We miss you all and can’t wait to see you back in Bend! In the meantime, this is what has been happening here for the last two months:
Play at the Boys and Girls Club has been fairly steady, but the good weather has been siphoning off players to the outdoor venues. At the same time, many of our leads have left the area for a late winter respite. As a result, we have had to permanently cancel some chronically underutilized sessions and make some last-minute cancellations on others. We are working closely with the Boys and Girls Club management to minimize the impact of the cancellations and we certainly regret any hardships or difficulties to our members. Jan Patchett has done a terrific job of coordinating things there, and we want to give a special thanks to all of the leads who step up and make indoor play possible for our members. The Boys and Girls Club will be closed to all play March 23 through March 26. Hopefully Brian is able to get us some good weather for outdoor play then.
Ron Bessling found a list of pickleball strategies from Coach Mo that he wanted to share with the club. A link to the document has been added to our website under the Clinics tab. Thank you Ron for the valuable information!
Sage Springs is hosting a tournament the weekend of March 7th. A link to the registration form is now up on our website under the Upcoming Tournaments tab. My apologies for the delay in getting this link up. I had some problems to resolve with the website software.
Club members fared well in the January tournament at Sage Springs. Congratulations to Viki Perkett and Nick Bozilov (1st mixed 4.0-4.5 doubles,) Jamie Filipeli and Ron Greene (2nd mixed 4.0-4.5 doubles,) Kim Bessling and Ron Bessling (1st Mixed 3.0-3.5 doubles,) Heather Johnston and Dan Fuller (2nd Mixed 3.0-3.5 doubles,) Rochelle Neal and Shannon Morton (1st Womens Doubles 3.5- 4.0,) Jamie Filipeli and Viki Perkett (2nd Womens Doubles 3.5-4.0,) Ron Bessling and Chris Points, (1st Mens doubles 3.5 – 4.0,) and Larry Boyd and Riley Mc Hugh (2nd Mens Doubles 3.5-4.0.)
The Oregon Senior Games and USAPA Pacific Northwest Regional Big Country RV Bend Tournaments are filling up. If you are looking for a partner, there are lists of people needing partners on the tournament registration pages. Use the links from the Upcoming Tournaments tab on our website to get to the tournament signup pages.
Construction at PNP is rolling along, as well it should be with all of the fine weather we have had. There are some new pictures (courtesy of Brian Firebaugh) of the latest progress posted on the club website under PNP Updates if you’re interested.
Last summer, your board spent a great deal of time and energy hashing out a mission statement to guide us (meaning the entire club) in our efforts to promote and grow pickleball in Central Oregon. The mission statement is on the front page of our website to tell the world who we are, why we are here, and how we strive to develop the game. Two very important concepts in our mission are the elements of sportsmanship (fair play, respect for opponents, and polite behavior among competitors) and collegiality (an atmosphere of considerate and respectful conduct.) We all have our own personal reasons for being on the courts. Whether the individual goal is exercise, camaraderie, competition, or something else, we all share the common experience of the game. The game is what brings us together, but the game is not really important. The people in the game and what they experience are the only parts that really matter. Whatever our motivation is for being on the courts, it is important to remember that we owe each other an opportunity to enjoy the game. We should all strive to make each game memorable for other players because we treated them like we enjoyed their participation. Our impact on other players should be memorable to them because they appreciate our display of sportsmanship and that we made them feel like an equal. All of our members represent the Bend Pickleball Club and all of our members can help make a positive contribution to the club and the game by striving to welcome all players and make their pickleball experience a pleasant memory. Think about it.
We would like to extend a warm welcome to the following new members who joined us since our last newsletter:
Bob Arnold, Dee Arnold, Debbie Barrows, Jan Brougher, Louis Capozzi, Penne Chapin-Zeigen, Pamela Compton, Chloe Coonrod, Landon Coonrod, Scott Coonrod, Sondra Coonrod, Gigi Ditz, Jim Duncan, Wendi Green, Nancy Grimes, Mary Koblitz, Jackie LeBrun, Tom Matson, Patricia McDonald, Dan McGee, Leslie McHugh, Lorenzo Rojas, Leila Thompson, and Elaine Wierman.
See you on the courts!!
