Results from the Endless Summer Pickleball Bash in Redmond!

First off, please SCROLL DOWN after you finish reading this post and note Verna's last two posts regarding the Charter Member BBQ and the club's thanks to Mountain High...both very good sentiments and nice pictures.

Phil McGage (aka PhillyMac!) did a very nice job putting together what hopefully will be the second regular local tournament (after the Thousand Trails tournament in July in SunRiver) at the new courts in Eagle's Crest in Redmond. Although the courts are a little difficult to find, requiring a sherpa, water, thermal blankets and flashlights, most people did find the courts eventually (his signs helped) and a good time seemed to be had by most, perhaps even all! Phil is a relaxed and delightful host (rumor has it that his starting on the Mexican beer at 10:30 AM helped greatly), and to that point this has to be the only tournament I've ever seen that actually provides both water AND beer in coolers on the court, making it a heck of a value for $5. Not to mention that the "Endless Summer" theme, carried forward by a boom-box spewing Jimmy and/or Beach Boys, was very cool and the PhillyMacburgers and PhillyMacbrats were delicious. Big fun, good job!

But what you REALLY want to know is, "Did the Bend Pickleball Club members win anything?" And, yes, the BPC members did VERY well in what was for some their first tournament, with the following results:

A. J. Fraties       3rd,   Men's Advanced Doubles
Lee Moore         4th    Men's Advanced Doubles
Bruce Schaefer   1st,   Consolation, Men's Advanced Doubles
Irene Fraties        3rd,  Women's Advanced Doubles
Jean Lamber       1st,   Women's Intermediate Doubles
Jody Blank          2nd, Women's Intermediate Doubles
Viki Perkett         1st,   Consolation, Women's Intermediate Doubles
Susie Dougan      1st,   Mixed Doubles, Advanced (with John Grasso)
AJ and Irene        2nd,  Mixed Doubles, Advanced

Hopefully I didn't miss anybody here....but in any event, congratulations to all the Bend Pickleball Club PLAYERS who came and played hard and well in what was for some their very first tournament. You all gave a great account of yourselves and many of you told me that you had a great time, as I mentioned above. (If you haven't said so to PhillyMac, btw, you can email him at phillymac@bendbroadband.com.) 

Charter Members Annual BBQ

Thank you Charter Members for all of your support! We appreciate that you each took a big step forward to support BENDPICKLEBALLCLUB@HOTMAIL.COM! We are excited that this sport has become recognized in Bend in such a short time! AJ, Irene and board members have spent MANY hours to help develop the growth of this sport and we all appreciate the hours they all have given! Thank you Charter Members for believing that PICKLEBALL will become the new sport in Bend! Many of us will be leaving here to find the sunshine and we are confident that each of you that stay in Central Oregon through the winter will continue to play at the venues listed on this site! Thank you all for making Pickleball successful in Bend!

Thank you to Mountain High!

Mountain High has been so gracious to allow our Pickleball Club to use their courts! Our club is so grateful to you all! Watching Pickleball is how Lee and I became addicted to the game! We watched for many weeks before we decided to try it! I was so delighted to see this couple, from Mountain High, bring their chairs to watch! We have many members that are curious and want to "see" this game before they participate! I am hoping that this lovely couple will be one of our players in the future! Thank you again Mountain High for allowing us to play on your courts!

BAD NEWS! Bend Pickleball Club no longer has access to COCC Courts!

This is very disappointing, but we've been asked the Central Oregon Community College (COCC) not to use the COCC courts for pickleball any more. The entire email I received is posted below, and to this point I don't know more than the email states. I do have to add that Bill Douglass, COCC Director of Sports and Recreation and the author of the bad-news email, has been very nice to the club this summer, allowing us virtually unlimited use of the three courts on Tuesdays and Thursdays, hosting crowds as big as 35 and 40. Thus I can only hope that the COCC decision is a seasonal one and, next summer when again there are virtually no student tennis players using the courts, we can again have access to the facility.

I have sent a reply to Bill on behalf of us all, and I'm sure he's as disappointed about this as we are. The main thing is....where are we going to play now? We need permanent courts. Perhaps it's time to have more discussion with the City of Bend. And, if you know somebody to talk to, let YOUR voice be heard as well.

aj

I have been asked by Central Oregon Community College Officials to inform you that the Central Oregon Community College Courts are not available for club use.  The college has begun a resurfacing project and will not allow anyone on the courts until classes begin.

The college has also requested that once classes begin on the 19^th the courts will only be available for student use.  The college has become concerned by the large numbers of pickleball players using the courts and the parking problems this will add to an already significant parking shortage. 

I would also request that COCC has its name removed from your website as a place to play pickleball.  I regret that we are not able to meet your needs at this time.  However, our priority must be to meet our students needs.

Thanks for your understanding of our situation and good luck!

Bill Douglass

COCC Director of Sports and Recreation