Save the Date: Paddle Demo Day

Also: Court shoes and safety glasses

On Sunday, February 19, we will be replacing our 2:30 - 6:00 Open Play and reserved court time on Court Reserve with a Pickleball Planet Paddle Demo Day. Rick and Jen Toso will be there with lots of demo paddles from Joola and Head for you to come try out. If you’ve been thinking about getting a new paddle but don’t know where to start, this is for you! Pick out a demo paddle, play a game, and then try out a different demo paddle until you find the right one for you. They will also have court shoes and safety glasses available to try on and purchase, and you’re welcome to come take a look at those even if you aren’t shopping for a paddle right now.

This time will be an Open House, though we do ask that you sign up on Court Reserve so we can get an idea how many people to expect (registration is open now). Feel free to come and go anytime within the 2:30 - 6:00 event.

Safety: eye Protection

As you may have heard, someone in our club recently suffered an eye injury during open play. We want to very strongly encourage everyone to wear eye protection at all times while playing — if your paddle is in your hand put your glasses on your face.

There are many options out there, from racquetball goggles to pickleball-specific glasses to safety glasses from the hardware store. We have a few suggestions, but feel free to explore all the options out there and find the right one for you:

• Pickleball Planet: This local company carries several different options of glasses from Head. Use this link to see them, or check them out in person at the demo day event on Feb. 19 mentioned above.

• Gearbox: These glasses come in different lens colors and in 2 different sizes (regular and slim fit) to better fit different size faces. As a woman who has struggled to find safety glasses that fit in the past, I can say I really like the slim fit size from Gearbox. Each pair also comes in a nice case that protects them from scratches in your bag.

• Onix: The glasses from this paddle manufacturer are well-reviewed and come with 3 different colored lenses to use for different lighting conditions. There is only one size available, so they may only fit some face sizes well. They have two styles: the Falcon and the Owl.

• Milwaukee: A friend has been wearing these and has been very happy with the anti-fog performance of these relatively inexpensive safety glasses.

• Another anti-fog option I’ve seen some people using: get a pair of inexpensive full-frame sunglasses and pop the lenses out. The frames will provide protection for your eyes while the lack of lenses will prevent fogging. The downside of this option can be some small blind spots where the frame goes around your eye, but that might be an acceptable tradeoff for you over fogging up.

There are too many options out there to list them all here. Ask a friend, search Google, or you can even visit Widgi Creek Pickleball or Pickleball Zone in Bend to try on the options they sell as well.

LPPC Potluck and Round Robin Day

Mark your calendars for Friday, March 3, when we will have two round robins (12 spots in each) and a potluck lunch. The schedule will be as follows:

• 10:00-12:15: 3.0-3.5 Round Robin;15 minute warm-up followed by play

• 12:15-1:30: Potluck; everyone welcome, even if you don’t play in the RR’s)

• 1:30-3:45: 3.5-4.0 Round Robin; 15 minute warm-up followed by play

Sign ups for the round robins open 1 week in advance.

Miscellaneous updates and Reminders

• Language: please watch your language when playing, socializing, or otherwise interacting with others at LPRD. We’ve had complaints from LPRD staff about curse words being used.

• There are often activities after us on the indoor courts, so we need to make sure to put away our equipment and clear out in a timely manner. All play should stop at least 5 minutes before the session ends, and everyone should exit the gym before the end of our time. Do not hang around talking in the gym while the next activity is starting — you can move to the foyer area.

  • Monday and Wednesday morning play sessions in particular have other groups starting immediately after them. We have adjusted the play time on Court Reserve to 7:55 am - 9:55 am for these specifically to call out the need to stop ahead of time, pack up, and clear out from the gym.

• All members need to register themselves for play times. If your spouse or friend is a club member, they need to login and sign themselves up; you should not sign them up as your guest. We only allow a certain number of guests per session, and a member should not be taking a guest spot.

• If you sign up to play but then are unable to attend, cancel more than 1 hour in advance. That’s the only way to give someone on the waitlist an opportunity to take your spot.

• Registration for every event opens 1 week in advance. We ask that you only sign up in advance for one event per day so that everyone has equal opportunity to play.

  • If it is the day of an event and it is not full, then you can sign up for your second event for that day.

• Beginner Open Play: as we mentioned in an email to the club last week, we’ve added a Beginner Open Play time on Thursdays, 2:00-4:00 to the indoor play schedule. This time is specifically for people who are relatively new to pickleball (approx. 2.5-3.0 ratings) who would like a chance to play with other people of similar skill level.

  • Note: this week (Feb. 2) is an exception, as we don’t have any court time at LPRD Thursday and Friday due to a conflicting event.

• We are talking with LPRD to see if there might be additional times we can get weekly for play time — stay tuned, and you might see some additions to Court Reserve.

IMPORTANT MESSAGE TO CAPTAINS

Our club requires captains DAILY to be able to function smoothly and in a safe way. Captains answer member questions, unlock and lock the building, help set up and put equipment away, and various other important things. 

Our club is calling on captains to please be PRESENT AS A CAPTAIN to take on these responsibilities. If each captain signs up to open, close, or manage play for only one session a week, it would be a tremendous step in helping to take the burden off just a few! 

Thank you to these members for signing up to help our club by being a captain for 2023, including: Carol Burdick, Carol Mosman, Cathy Hundley, Cheryl Patzer, Clyde Evans, Cyndie Gill, Debbie Mountjoy, Gayle Katter, Gene Shands, George Shrum, Jan Price, Jen Toso, Lark Lieb, Mark Hower, Mark O’Brien, Michal Yourdon, Mike Edson, Mike Patzer, Rick Toso, Ruth Neufeld , Ryan Pierson, Sue Wente, Suzanne Cournoyer, Theresa O’Brien, and Whitney Smith.

Seeking More Captains

As mentioned in last month’s newsletter, we’re always seeking new captains for our club. Note that anyone can be a captain! You don’t have to have been playing pickleball for very long or have any particular rating. For more information, or if you’re interested in applying, please contact us or speak to Cheryl Patzer directly.

8th Annual Frontier Days Tournament

Registration for our club’s annual tournament — which will be June 21 -25 this year — opened Jan. 1. In a testament to how popular this tournament is, registrations have poured in and some events are already full. There are definitely still some openings though, so sign up soon if you want to play!

New Members

Welcome to all the new members who joined us in January, including:

Terry McBride
Debbie Sidley
Pat Arnold
Ken Arnold
Michelle Addy
Becky Allen
Daren vom Steeg
Jennie Kjos
Carolyn Harris
Craig Harris
Trent Morrell
Donna Stancil
Charles Bartlemay
Tisha Farris
Janet Holguin
Cheryl Kerry
Michael Kerry
Cindy Manica
David Manica
Doug Cline
Joe Zeimentz
Justin Robinson
Jim Yourdon

At last count, our club was up to 242 members!