DUPR Rating System

Many of you have asked board members about getting rated. After researching and discussing how to get our members rated, we have identified a relatively easy way to accomplish this.

If you haven’t heard of it before, DUPR (Dynamic Universal Pickleball Rating) is a newer system for rating pickleball players. Unlike other systems that are regional (CORE for example) or that can become stale (IPTPA for example), or that are only based on tournament play (WPR or UTPR for example), DUPR is based on all of your most recent matches that are entered into it, both from recreational play and tournaments. Many players from our club are starting to use it and finding it easy to enter results from their matches, and then watching their ratings adjust as they play more and against different opponents. If you don’t have an official rating, this can be an easy (and free!) way to start seeing where you fall based on your play results.

If you have played in a tournament in the last couple of years, DUPR may already have an account for you that you can “claim” by searching for your name here. If, like me, you create a new account before realizing they already have one for you, a quick email to their support team will allow them to “merge” your two accounts into a single one.

As an example, one of our club members — Suzanne Cournoyer — has a DUPR rating based on her tournament and recreational play, as she and her fellow players have been entering their results. Last month DUPR created a list of the “Biggest Amateur Movers” from June to July of this year, and Suzanne was #4 on their Women’s Doubles list! Congratulations Suzanne!

If you have any questions about getting an account set up, please ask a board member for help. Note that there is both an app and a website and both seem to work well, with straightforward interfaces for entering match results.

Treasurer’s Report

Total funds as of 8/1/22: $ 12,942.28 (General Fund $ 7,840.32; Tournament Fund $ 5,101.96)

Note that the big news as of this Treasurer’s Report is that all of the club’s loans have been paid off! Many members made loans and donations to the club to help support building the courts that we all now get to play on. For several years, money raised by the club has been used to pay down the loans, and with the revenue from this year’s Frontier Days tournament, all loans have now been paid.

Recent Tournament Results

The Oregon Senior Games took place last weekend in Albany, OR, and several of our club members finished on the podium, including:

Women’s Doubles, 2.5-3.5, 60-64 age group, Bronze Medal: Susan Day with partner Kay Harris

Women’s Singles, 4.0-5.0, 60-64 age group, Gold Medal: Jen Toso

Women’s Doubles, 4.0-5.0, 60-64 age group, Gold Medal: Jen Toso with partner Carol Knapp

Mixed Doubles, 4.0-5.0, 60-64 age group:

Gold Medal: Jen Toso with partner Paul Baragona

Silver Medal: Cyndie Gill with partner Kim Girouard

Congrats to you all! Way to represent La Pine!

Huge apologies if I missed anyone.

Thank You!

A big thank you to Cheryl Patzer for handling all the email/phone inquiries about visitors playing at our courts. Lots of folks traveling through our area for the summer find our website and inquire about coming out to play. Cheryl answers their questions so they know when they can join us and what to expect when they arrive at our courts. Thank you Cheryl!

Lead Tape

Not thrilled with your current paddle, but also not sure you’re ready to drop $$$ on a new one? You might want to consider if adding lead tape to your paddle could get you what you’re looking for. Here’s an informative article about the how’s and why’s of lead tape.

The Greater World of Pickleball

Some people travel to play pickleball in a new location, but why not play while doing the traveling?

The Pickleball/Tennis battles continue, sometimes very literally. I enjoyed this perspective from a Sports Illustrated writer, in particular this excerpt:

“I see the pickleball hate. But I can generate zero outrage. I see no existential threat to tennis here. I see far more complement than competition. A few tennis courts are converted for pickleball courts? Good. At so many facilities I see the courts, sadly, would be otherwise unoccupied. This new racket sport causes the USTA to readjust its collective boater hat, rethink business and update its playbook? Good. This sport allows people to build community (sometimes literally) around a racket sport? Good. It gives us an alternative to tennis, in the beginning and end, when our bodies can’t accommodate running around a full court and using a full-sized racket frame? Good.”

Over the last few years, I think the locations people have most associated with pickleball included its birthplace of Washington State/Bainbridge Island or the retirement meccas of Arizona and Florida. But Texas is definitely making moves to leave its mark on the sport, with some of the recent highlights covered in this article.