Ron Green
The SaddleBrooke Ranch Pickleball Association is a great club to be part of. We had a lot happen in 2017 and would like to recap our year for everyone, and extend our thanks and appreciation to so many.
What makes our club special are the people. We are grateful for the leadership from our Board of Directors, the chairpersons and committee members that worked on our committees and all our members.
In 2017 our membership grew to over 280 members. Thank you to Ken Cook and his team of supporters from our Membership Committee for their efforts and support on the growth of our club.
We had 86 members advance with their skill level ratings. This is incredible and thanks go out to Larry Burchfield and his team from our Ratings and Advancement Testing Committee who helped make this possible.
Our Beginner and Skills Development Committee, chaired by Bob Hills with the support of his team, brought us successful beginner coaching each week and skills development sessions throughout the year covering areas of serves, returns, forehand, backhand, drop shots, dinking, drop in coaching and team strategy. Thank you also to all our members that volunteered to support this committee’s efforts and help us learn and develop with the sport.
Behind the scenes we have several committees providing incredible support throughout the year to ensure we stay organized, kept up to date with any changes in our sport, and maintain our courts. These include our members that manage our website, our webmasters, Jodie Koerner as chair for our Court Scheduling Committee and her team of members, Rich Ferris as chair for our Bylaws Committee and his team of members, the members of our Rules and Referee committee, and Larry Burchfield as chair for our Facilities and Equipment committee and his team of members.
What would a club be without a slew of activities and events? We are thankful to Mary Stolze as chair for our Social Committee and her team of members that helped put together many great social events throughout the year. This included our chili cook off and social play, meet and mingle social play, moonlight mixer, hot fun in the sun party, SBR pickleball wieners, and closing out our year with our annual party.
In addition to our social activities, with the support of Gary Grasso, and the many members that volunteered and assisted him, our club hosted two sessions of the Robson Cup; SaddleBrooke vs PebbleCreek as well as SaddleBrooke Ranch vs Sun Lakes. We also had our own SaddleBrooke Ranch Festival, and the first inaugural Quail Creek Invitational with SaddleBrooke Ranch vs Quail Creek.
Let’s not forget that some of our members venture out and register and play in USAPA tournaments. In 2017 we had many members play in tournaments with ten members bringing home gold, silver, and bronze medals. 2018 looks to have even more of our members register and play in USAPA tournaments. Good luck to everyone.
What a year. Thank you again to everyone for their contribution and support for a great 2017 year. We look forward to another great year with 2018. Happy New Year everyone.
Don’t miss out on being part of a great club with extraordinary members and fun and inclusive events. If you are not part of the SaddleBrooke Ranch Pickleball Association and would like more information or become a member please visit our website http://www.sbrpickleball.club.