Golden Gate Pickleball October 2024 Newsletter

Welcome to the Golden Gate Pickleball Newsletter. Within its digital pages you will find information about upcoming events, results of past events, and a little bit of entertainment, too.

GGP's mission is to facilitate the growth of pickleball in the San Francisco Bay Area. We offer organized recreational and competitive play for the enjoyment, health, and social engagement of all players in a collegial and sportsman-like environment. We are also working to expand facilities and programs to meet the growing needs of our pickleball community.

We are an all volunteer organization. Ninety-five percent of your donations will go directly to program and community activities.

You may donate here: https://www.goldengatepickleball.org/donate

Donate Now

Drill and Play

Learn from Huy Le, one of our local pros. His lessons are the hottest ticket in town. We have expanded his drill and play sessions to 4 days, and still there is often a waiting list. Players keep returning because of the noticeable improvements in their game. These sessions are not just for tournament players. Everyone can find some benefit in the drills.

Drill and Play continues at Louis Sutter, 7:30 am - 9:00 am, from Monday through Thursday.

Levels:

3.0 on Mondays
3.25 on Tuesdays
3.5 on Wednesdays
3.75 on Thursdays.

Introduction to Pickleball

Drill and Play for beginners

Lisa Shaw will be hosting an introduction to pickleball along with beginner drills on Wednesdays 1:00-2:00 p.m. at Louis Sutter.

Lisa just captained the 4.0 winning team at our local Hoedown tournament. She was the only woman on the team, battling against all men teams and coming out on top – every game she played. She did not drop a single game.

We suspect her students will soon be able to move up to Huy's higher levels drill sessions.

You can sign up using button below.

Women Open Play

Hey ladies, let's play together!

We are looking for a group of women with skill levels between 2.75 and 3.5 to play on Wednesdays between 12:00 and 1:30 at Louis Sutter. This will be open play or an individual round-robin (not recorded). Plan to drill for about 15 minutes before the games begin.

This will be an excellent opportunity to meet new people and enjoy some friendly competition.

If we have enough interest, we will expand the organized play to include ladders, round robins, crazy 8's, and Moneyball.

Also, if people desire, we will bring in a coach once a month to observe our play and comment on our progress. This can be a fantastic way to improve your game.

At GGP, we believe in the power of community. That's why we'll provide snacks to keep your energy up and encourage socializing between games.

Block Parties

October 20, 2024 in Glen Park. GGP will be setting up pickleball nets at the Glen Park Block Party. It will be on Chenery between 12:00 - 5:00 pm.

If you want to volunteer, please contact Shelly at ggp.shellythomas@gmail.com

October 26, 2024 in Mission Terrace. Although GGP board members will not be able to attend this block party, we will provide nets, paddles, and balls if anyone wants to volunteer to attend and be responsible for the equipment. The party is on Cayuga (Mission Terrace) between 11:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m.

Contact Shelly at: ggp.shellythomas@gmail.com

Challenge Court

Saturday Challenge Court continues at Louis Sutter on Saturday mornings. Donuts, coffee and other snacks will be provided courtesy of GGP.

THE RESULTS ARE IN!

Felix Evangelista Memorial Tournament

Felix Evangelista was Golden Gate Pickleball’s resident crooner, and Louis Sutter's friendliest host. Over the years Felix took countless newbies under his wing and patiently taught them the game. He encouraged them and yes, at times, literally sang their praises as their skills improved.

His message was all about inclusiveness: we are one big pickleball family. He posted signs throughout Louis Sutter, sharing his light and his joy of the game.

Felix wanted everyone to have a chance to learn and grow to love pickleball. GGP plans to continue that mission in his memory.

The September 28, 2024 MLP Tournament was held in honor of Felix. And he would have been proud! We had some awesome play. A few Dreambreakers a few heart-breakers. The turnout was spectacular. Everyone played hard and fast and spirits were high.

Special shout-outs to our volunteers:

Twila – court manager extraordinaire.

Christina – keeping up with Kardashian, she was everywhere and did everything with a smile on her face.

The guest of honor, Violet, ran the kitchen like she did her nurses.

Susan Chal – Sous Chef and food monitor.

Mary Anne – Sous Chef #2. She kept those bears away from the food.

Jose – Food hero!! Cooking the best burgers in town. (Watch out, Todd, he's gunning for your job.)

And remember the Board! Megan, Debbie, Shelly, Suzy, Jonas, and Huy. We couldn't have done it without our little village.

Also a special thanks to Dennis for his fantastic presentation.

AND FINALLY...THE PLAYERS!!! THANK YOU EVERYONE FOR COMING!

NOW FOR THE WINNERS

MLP 14-15 (3.5-3.75)

Gold: Dinking & Driving

Rob (C) - Laura - Paul - Anna

Silver: No Pickle

Johnson (C) - Katie - Tiffany - Michael

Bronze: Carpe Dink’em

Derrick (C) - Sean - Nikki - Liz

MLP 16-17 (4.0-4.25)

Gold: Paddle Rangers

Lisa (C) - G. Gollerkeri - Peter - Cole

Silver: Last Minute

Austin (C) - Gerrard - Antonio - Wing

Bronze: Late to the Party 2

James (C) - Mark - Edison - Joe

MLP 18-20 (4.5+)

The exhibition match between Huy’s team and Jonas’s team was epic. They played best of three matches.

The True Grit players: Jonas, Alisa, Joana, and Mac.

The VN 19911 players: Huy, Loi, Quynh, Quan.

True Grit took the first match with a nail-biting Dreambreaker (final score: 15/14). Team VN took the second match outright. The final match also went to a Dreambreaker, which VN won 15-13.

Hopefully we will have some of the matches on our Instagram page.

Youth Program

The Golden Gate Pickleball Foundation is thrilled to announce a historic partnership with JOOLA! We share a common vision: to equip the next generation of pickleball players with the tools and skills they need to excel in the sport we all cherish - PICKLEBALL!

Our ultimate goal is to establish pickleball as a varsity sport within the San Francisco Bay Area school system. JOOLA has generously agreed to support this initiative by providing equipment to our partner schools. Notably, JOOLA has already made headlines by helping Montgomery County, Maryland, become the first school district in the U.S. to offer pickleball as a varsity sport. We aspire for San Francisco to be the second district to achieve this milestone.

This is just the beginning of our exciting partnership with JOOLA, and we look forward to the incredible opportunities that lie ahead!

We want to thank Ryan Blanton for facilitating the partnership with JOOLA. We definitely couldn’t have done it without him.

GGP is working on a pilot program to integrate pickleball into PE classes at local schools, and we also want to help set up after-school pickleball clubs.

The Felix Evangelista School Fund will help cover the costs of this program. We will be supplying high schools with nets, paddles, balls, chalk, tape, court laydowns, and instruction. The estimated costs, including coaching, will be $1800.

GGP worked with two high schools last school year.

This year, GGP provided Philip Burton High School equipment for their club and their PE classes. We donated 50 paddles and 100 balls. We will continue to support Philip Burton with equipment and instruction.

We were there during club day. There was much excitement in the end. They got enough sign-ups to have a robust club.

If you know a school that is interested in adding pickleball to their PE classes, contact Ryan or Jonas with your contact information. ggp.ryanblanton@gmail.com or ggp.jonassatuito@gmail.com.

Paddle Tales

The Nasty Nelson: Should it be illegal?

by Twila Slesnick

Just last week, I was playing a friendly game of pickleball. It was a tight game and I was concentrating pretty hard. My opponent was about to serve to me and I was in jittery-crouch mode (the ready stance of a person who has never played tennis). My opponent served the ball with vigor and a split second later, my partner shouted, “OUCH!” Sure enough the ball had hit her in the chest and was dribbling down the front of her shirt. While she nursed her bruised ego, I picked up the ball and tossed it back to the server. “Nice Nasty Nelson, buddy. We’ll be ready next time.”

The opps both looked at me as though they hadn’t yet had their coffee. I said, “That was your point. Go ahead and serve.”

Of course, the tag wasn’t intentional. Just a wild serve. But once again, we were all reminded that nothing good happens if you are hit by a pickleball. Wounded pride is a possibility, but more important, you will certainly lose the rally, as was our fate this time.

In the beginning (of pickleball), that particular maneuver did not have a name, because nobody thought to use it as a winning strategy, or develop it as a coveted skill. Intentionally hitting the receiver’s partner with the ball to gain a point? Crazy.

But there’s always someone out there who will find a questionable use of a sensible rule, right? In this case, it was a baseball player who had taken up pickleball. As a baseball player, his aim was pretty good. So, as he began his pickleball career, he discovered he could score a few points by intentionally serving at (and hitting) receiver’s partner when she wasn't paying attention, or if I’m being cynical, when she wasn't agile enough to throw herself to the ground in time to avoid being hit. The man’s name is Tim Nelson and the unpopular tactic became known as the Nasty Nelson. I’m sure he’s proud.

But should this particular type of tagging be illegal? Consider this:

You are about to serve, and the receiver is in position. Meanwhile his partner is up at the kitchen line, pinching the middle of the court—standing right at the center line (which is perfectly legal). Not only is he blocking your view of part of the service court, but if he doesn’t move, it will be virtually impossible to serve down the center line (toward receiver’s lousy backhand) without hitting him. So you serve as though he wasn’t there, aiming for the center line, and sure enough, the ball hits this joker. Who’s in the wrong in this case? And what should be the consequences, if not a point for the server?

The Nasty Nelson has been around for a long time, and yet the rules committee of USA Pickleball has not seen fit to ban it. I align myself with the committee, but one of my pickleball drills is a quick drop to the deck. I’ve become pretty adept at dodging wild serves. But an intentional Nasty Nelson, if not a soft ball, is going to earn my opponent a fearsome scowl from me.

Having Your Say

by Martha Ehrenfeld

“Which do you like better, tennis or pickleball?” I get that question all the time. Do you ask a parent which child they love more? Oh wait, I am a childless cat lady but that is a different topic. We all know that the media loves a good pickleball versus tennis story. Juicy click bait for sure. Yet there are many who love both pickleball and tennis. It is not a good teaser for a “more at 10pm” news story.

If you ask a tennis or pickleball player what they love about their sport, I bet their answers would be very similar. The list would include things like exercising with friends, meeting new people, being part of a community, improving skills, strengthening mental focus and strategy.

People often ask me, does pickleball hurt my tennis game? I would argue that pickleball has improved my net game in tennis and my tennis experience makes me a more strategic pickleball player. A win win. For example, one of my tennis doubles partners always reminds me to be “patiently aggressive” and trust me, I use that all the time on the pickleball court. Now and then I can even maintain a dink battle, waiting for my opponent to make the mistake. It is the same on the tennis court, if I am playing a younger opponent, I wait for them to hit their third shot out instead of me slamming an overhead into the net.

What about the next generation? Which sport should they have access to? Which should they play? We all want youth to get outside and move, taking some time off from their screens to “touch grass” or at least some asphalt. Whether it is on a tennis or pickleball court, every child should have an opportunity to move their body, learn new skills, meet friends, and engage in a sport for a lifetime. We should support and encourage all kinds of youth sports.

The next time someone asks me which sport I love more, I am going to say, “I choose joy on either court.”

Martha Ehrenfeld is the former co-chair of the Tennis Coalition SF and was part of the team that renovated the Goldman Tennis Center. She currently serves on the Tennis and Pickleball Planning Committee for the SF Recreation and Parks Department and is a board member of the San Francisco Parks Alliance and USTA NorCal. She is a co-founder of DinkSF and a certified Pickleball coach. When she is not playing tennis or pickleball, she teaches the card game Bridge at Planet Bridge. She lives with her wife and three cats in the Inner Sunset.

If you like what GGP is doing for pickleball and community, you may donate here: https://www.goldengatepickleball.org/donate