Illinois Pickleball in The News! Morton's New Courts

Illinois Pickleball in The News!
Morton's New Courts at Birchwood Park

Take a swat at pickleball on Morton's new courts
By Steve Stein, Journal Star

Rockford Illinois Pickleball Court Ribbon Cutting Ceremony

ILLINOIS RIBBON CUTTING CEREMONY INVITATION 
                   from USA Pickleball Ambassador Jennifer Selchow

at SINNISSIPPI PARK, ROCKFORD, IL

Hello, Ambassadors and Pickleball Players.

I wanted to let you know that the Rockford Park District is in the process of converting two tennis courts into six outdoor Pickleball courts. They will be completed in about two weeks. There will be a ribbon cutting ceremony, and media day on Saturday, September 18th. Please forward this onto other players in your Pickleball communities. Please attend. Here is the information:

Who: Anyone interested in attending this public event to promote Pickleball. Please tell all your friends and neighbors to come and enjoy the party.

What: A ribbon cutting ceremony for the six new outdoor Pickleball courts at Sinnissippi Park

When: Saturday, September 18th at 11:00 am

Where: Sinnissippi Park, 1401 North Second Street, Rockford, IL (GPS: +42.28048, -89.06654)

Map: http://www.northernillinoispickleball.com/places-to-play/proposed-sites

Food: Fried pickles will be served by The Rockford Park District

What to wear: Your USAPA shirt, or your Northern Illinois Pickleball shirt. If you don't have either one of these then wear anything that you feel comfortable while playing Pickleball.

Bring: Your paddle, balls, sunscreen, beverages, and a lawn chair.

Play: Come enjoy a few games on our new patriotic Pickleball courts!

If you have questions, please contact me at theselchow@gmail.com .


Respectfully,
Jennifer Selchow

Northern Illinois Pickleball

Sinnissippi Court Construction - Northern Illinois Pickleball

Sinnissippi Court Construction - Northern Illinois Pickleball
Northern Illinois Pickleball

Pickleball gaining popularity ~ The Toledo Blade

"Racquet sport of Pickleball gaining popularity in area"

The Toledo Blade ~ Toledo, Ohio

By Aliyya Swaby, Blade Staff Writer

3rd Annual Middletown Ohio Senior Pickleball Tournament Results

3rd Annual Middletown Ohio Senior Pickleball Tournament Results


Womens Singles

• 1st Ann Peterson
• 2nd Bonnie Powell
• 3rd Cheryl Wyatt

Mens Singles Blue Group

• 1st Gary Ball
• 2nd Mike Schwartz
• 3rd Doug Lear

Mens Singles Black Group

• 1st Al Hager
• 2nd Don Erven
• 3rd David Leach

Womens Doubles Pink Group

• 1st Cheryl Wyatt & Nancy Darling
• 2nd Susan Vinson & Linda Laymon
• 3rd Ann Peterson & Robbie McClain

Womens Doubles Purple Group

• 1st Bobbi Little & Kim Fischer
• 2nd Po Sargent & Donna Elleman
• 3rd Beverly Cook & Rhea Fraley

Mens Doubles Black Group

• 1st Lynn Carlson & Al Hager
• 2nd Rich Wade & Dennis McCarter
• 3rd David Jordan & Gary Ball

Mens Doubles Blue Group

• 1st Tom Hicks & Mike Schwartz
• 2nd Jeff Roberts & Doug Patton
• 3rd Doug Lear & Jack Kavanagh

Mixed Doubles Blue Group

• 1st Mona Drake & Art Vinson
• 2nd Rodney Grubbs & Karen Grubbs
• 3rd Brad Bileyu & Cheryl Wyatt

Mixed Doubles Red Group

• 1st Susan Vinson & Denny Green
• 2nd Al Hager & Nancy Darling
• 3rd Cindy Moore & Billy Schoffstall

Sport is a good pickle to be in | sctimes.com | St Cloud Times :: MN

Sport is a good pickle to be in sctimes.com St Cloud Times :: MN

"Sport is a good pickle to be in" By Kelly Suter

Pickleball is picking up in Dakota County, MN | StarTribune.com

Pickleball is picking up in Dakota County StarTribune.com:

"Pickleball is picking up in Dakota County, MN :: Terry Taylor, 69, teaches pickleball on a modified Rosemount tennis court. Several towns have similar courts." By NICOLE NORFLEET, Star Tribune

First Annual Picklecruise to Bermuda

Play Pickleball in "International Waters"!

Here is the official info from organizer Audrey Phillips for the

First Annual Picklecruise to Bermuda.

May 15-22, 2011

Holland Ammerica

http://web.me.com/veryaud2/Site/11_PickleCruise.html

USAPA Pickleball – Tennis Court Conversion

USAPA Pickleball – Tennis Court Conversion

Pickleball is Alive and Well in Minnesota by Tom & Jeanne Gearhart

Reprinted from the August 2010 edition of

USAPA e-pickleball news -

a monthly publication for USAPA members

"Pickleball is Alive and Well in Minnesota"

by Tom and Jeanne Gearhart

USAPA Roving Ambassadors

So you want to play pickleball? Then you'd suppose you have to go to Florida, or Arizona or maybe Washington where this whole cult thing started. Not so!!! Minnesota is filled with "Snow Birds": people who go to Florida and Arizona in the winter, play pickleball there and then come home to Minnesota.

Jim Klaseus from Bloomington spends a couple of months a year at Road Haven RV Resort in Mesa, AZ. He plays pickleball. He comes home and misses it. He contacts the city and asks, very respectfully, if some lines can be painted on old tennis courts so he and a few others can play this silly pickleball game in the summer. They look at him like he might be some kind of deranged Norwegian. Jim persists, and they finally give him 2 old beater tennis courts. Today they have more people than they can handle on 2 courts and the city has agreed to build 4 new ones.

Jerry Maas from Eden Prairie spends his winters in Florida. Two years ago he thought it would be nice to play pickleball in the summer, so he went to his city. A bunch of them now play 3 times a week both on indoor and outdoor courts.

Mike Jennings got it going in Lakeville through the Senior Center and the folks love it.

Dave Leach is an avid pickleballer who winters at Venture Out in Mesa, AZ. He heads up an all-city tournament there every year and still does not get enough of it. He lives in a small town in northern Minnesota called Onamia. He started it there a couple of years ago in a small recreation center and this year held his first "Onamia Days Tournament", which Jeanne and I played in, and it was a smashing (no pun intended) success.

Jeanne and I used to live in the small town of Northfield, MN and became USAPA pickleball ambassadors for that community. We tried to get it going through the Northfield Senior Center and we were mildly successful to begin with by taping lines on the school tennis courts (the only courts in town). We approached the school district with the idea of painting lines on a couple of them and got a swift and speedy 'no', because the tennis coaches would not allow it. We have since sold our home there and are now full time RV people, so we have become roving ambassadors. This has allowed us to play all over the state for the past couple of years and we love it. We spent last summer in the St. Cloud area and found out that some folks were playing at the Whitney Senior Center. What a group. Tracey Thompson and Kim Kuester head up the program and they now have 5 indoor courts and 2 outdoor courts. They play 3 times a week and on any given evening have 12 to 20 people show up. Tracey started the St. Cloud Pickleball web site http://stcloudpb.weebly.com/  and the club is really taking off.

Randy Hall has a very active group in Willmar, MN. Last year he introduced it to the Minnesota Senior Games for the first time and it was a winner. They had 35 people sign up. This year they expect to double that number. The games are played in Alexandria in July.

We have heard that pickleball is alive and well in Virginia (iron range country to the north), in Rochester, in Ramsey and yes even the little town of Avon where a fellow by the name of Mike Collins is building a club of avid pickleballers with 3 indoor courts and he's now in the process of building 3 outdoor courts.

I' m sure there are more that Jeanne and I don't know about yet, but we will. People in other parts of the state that play pickleball will read this article and we will hear about it. That's great. It's a fun sport. People of all ages love it and Minnesota loves it.

Tom and Jeanne are fulltime RVers who winter at Palm Creek RV Resort in Casa Grande, AZ and spend their summers in Minnesota where their family is.