The Pickle Jar
August 4 - 8
So apparently baby gender reveal parties with pink or blue exploding pickleballs are becoming a thing. Is there no end to the madness? Which we all love by the way. Especially when you have a chance to play in weather like we had today. I played at the Y last night and what a difference 24 hours made from Wednesday. I was wearing a hoodie during my bye rotation to keep from getting chilled. We have things to cover so "Engage No.1" and warp into the Pickleverse.
CACJ's Inaugural Pickleball Paddle Palooza Tournament - On Wednesday I had the honor of working the Palooza. For their first tournament the Center For Alternatives in Community Justice they did well. When I first arrived I had a few palm to forehead moments but some issues with set up were quickly squared away. I worked exclusively with the Novice side of the gym and my standard for success is how much fun players are having. I give the fun level two thumbs up. I heard that the intermediate players had a good time and with a few tweaks the tournament could get even better. Youth ruled the day with a couple of college aged teams claiming the top spot in both the Novice and Intermediate brackets.
C3 Sports - While not the big changes I was hoping for, the faded green paint lines were replaced with bright green tape. Very easy to see. So the courts are still mixed color and 2 inches skinny. Lance indicated he is hoping to continue improving the courts. I will keep you posted.
One Day Fun Day Tournament - Due to a small flurry of last minute entries from State College YMCA they now have their own team. Sadly Bernel Briners did not field enough teams to compete for the team trophy. Blair County also failed to field enough teams this year. So it will be Tyrone vs State College Y. Now one upside for the Briners is that they have one team in each skill bracket and are quite capable of grabbing a medal in that bracket - maybe even a gold or two. Good luck to all the participants.
Johnstown YMCA Dogwood Festival Tournament - To the best of my knowledge there are no local teams in the men's or women's doubles brackets on Saturday. In mixed doubles on Sunday your humble blogger and SaraLee F. will be one team and Michael F. and Tina R. will be a second in the 3.0 bracket. Just a disclaimer - when Michael discovered his schedule would allow him to play I did offer to step aside so he and SaraLee could be a team. We don't have our start time for our bracket (hoping it is later so I don't have to wake up at O dark thirty in the morning) but if you want you can follow the live updates at this link: Johnstown Tournament
Lessons At The Y - There are still spots available for the August Beginner and Intermediate Clinics at the State College YMCA. Follow this link: State College YMCA
Next Local Tournament - I believe Dink For Pink is the next local tournament on September 20th at the State College YMCA. Registration opens on August 18th for members and August 25th for non-members. Each bracket will be capped at 20 players. For more information go to this page: Dink For Pink
Highmark Medicare Peeps - Just a reminder that if you have Highmark as your Medicare provider, they have switched back to SilverSneakers. If you previously had a SilverSneakers account through Highmark you will need to go to SilverSneakers and re-activate your account and then contact the gyms you use to update the change from FitOn back to SilverSneakers.
Tip Of The Week - It feels sooooo good when you can blast an overhead at your opponent's feet. The trick is that too many times we, well at least me, tries to smash when the body position, the foot placement and such are off. When you hit off balance, there is very often either a ball into the net or one sailing into orbit way past the baseline. Keep in mind not every shot needs to be or should be a pure power shot in a successful game. Many times, especially when in a defensive posture, taking some pace of the ball and trying to place it to an opponent's backhand will bring your more success and get you back into the point. By the way, you guys are getting real good at defending the overhead. I am seeing a lot of shuffling back when the opponent's paddle goes up and dropping yours down low to block the ball back. Impressed!
OK time to go sit on the deck and enjoy this lovely evening. I hope to see you on the court soon. I will be around a little less as I pick up the bike riding side of life as I get ready for my September fundraising rides. BTW, if you have not donated and would like to contribute to my Great Cycle Challenge fundraising to help with pediatric cancer research and patient/family support follow this link Randy's Fundraising Page. Peace.
Links for indoor play:
The Centre: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/70A0B4BA5AA28AB9-57755194-nvsc
C3 Sports: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/70A0B4BA5AA28AB9-57756999-c3pickleball
Randy Hoffman