Author: Diana

September Men’s Doubles Event – Semi-Final and Final Play – Tuesday and Wednesday

Thanks to everyone who participated in the September Men’s Doubles Event and CONGRATULATIONS to those teams that made it to the semi-finals.

The teams in the semi-finals are:

  • Chris Camplin/Scott Nasiff
  • Joe Giese/Kevin Daly
  • Brian Bronchi/Bob Nail
  • Tony Rollins/Bob Mallanga

The semi-finals will be played on Tuesday, September 26th, from 4:00 pm to 5:30 pm at the Rymer Courts.

The finals will be played on Wednesday, September 27th, from 4:00 pm to 5:30 pm at the Rymer Courts.

Come to the Rymer courts and cheer on these teams and your fellow SJPA members. You will see some high level pickleball play!

Women’s 3.5 and 3.0 Partner Play

Want to improve partner communication and work better together as a team? Then this event is for you.

Players will be paired with, and play against, same-rated players.

This event occurs every Wednesday, from October 4 through November 8. Players can sign up for one or more weeks, one week in advance of the Event.

Here’s the link to the first week of play.

Women’s 3.5 Partner Play

Women’s 3.0 Partner Play

Remaining weeks of play may be found under Events or in the Events calendar.

USA Pickleball – Mid-Year Rule Change – Incorrect Player Position Penalty

A few changes have been made to the USA Pickleball Rule Book for 2023. Probably the most interesting for “amateur” players is the rule eliminating player out of position penalty.

Here’s the essence of the new rule:

4.B.9.a. If the referee or a player stops a rally in progress to correctly identify a player/position error, the rally shall be replayed. If a player stops a rally and incorrectly identifies a player/position error, it is a fault on the player who stopped the rally. If the referee stops a rally in progress and incorrectly identifies a player/position error, the rally shall be replayed.

If you want the actual rule change details go to https://usapickleball.org/news/mid-year-revisions-to-the-2023-usa-pickleball-rulebook/

If you want a great explanation of the new rule as it relates to non-officiated play, check out The Pickler article by Mark Peifer

SJPA Spring Fling raises $4,309 for local food pantry

On May 7, the St James Pickleball Association (SJPA) held its annual Spring Fling fundraising event at the Woodlands.  All proceeds were given to support the Southport, Oak Island Interchurch Fellowship Food Pantry (SOIICF).  On June 1, members of the SJPA, Kathy McArthur and Liz Wilson, presented a check in the amount of $4,309 to Linda Dutry, Director of the SOIICF.

SJPA greatly appreciates the generosity of its members and all St. James residents who came out to support the food pantry and the vital service it provides to the surrounding local communities. 

Mixed-Up-Doubles TO BENEFIT Make-A-Wish Social Fundraiser – June 21st

Please join us on Wednesday, June 21st, for this special fundraising social event open to all SJPA members. There are two sessions – 4:00 pm to 5:30 pm and 5:30 pm to 7:00 pm. Come join the fun, stack your paddles, donate to a worthy cause, PLAY WITH A PRO, and maybe win a great prize!

Find out more and register for the 4:00 pm to 5:30 pm event

Find out more and register for the 5:30 pm to 7:00 pm event

SJPA Mixed-Up Doubles Event included Play with a Pro

St. James Pickleball players of all skill levels had the opportunity to play with the St. James Club’s Pros, Kim Mihan and Adam Greene, Wednesday evening, May 17th, in the SJPA Mixed-Up Doubles Paddle Stacking Event. 

Thank you to Kim and Adam for volunteering their time for this Event!  Every player had the opportunity to play with the pros and got some great tips from them too!

It was great seeing players on the court with others they have never met, playing Pickleball, making new acquaintances and having a blast!

Thanks to Chris Camplin, Ron Walters, and Andrea Velez for volunteering their time and ensuring that the event ran smoothly!  And special thanks to DJ Chris for supplying the music! 

Ladies’ 3.5 Competitive Ladder – Final Results

The Ladies’ 3.5 Competitive Ladder completed its 8-week spring season on April 17th with a round robin social play event. The ladies competed against each other and earned points for each match. There was lots of great Pickleball play by these ladies with some great rallies and fun games!

Congratulations to all the ladies who participated in our first SJPA Ladies 3.5 Ladder League.

A special congratulations goes to the top 3 players – 1st place – Pat Allred, 2nd place – Brenda Badis, and 3rd place – Alicia Mastropietro

View additional photos taken by photographer, Carolyn Gaziano

How to determine your pickleball rating

When you don’t have to think about which shot to hit, you just naturally hit it, you are a 5.0

When you don’t have to think about which shot to hit, but you can’t successfully hit it 2000 times in a row, you are a 4.5

When you have to think about which shot to hit, and when you figure it out, you can successfully hit it, you are a 4.0

When you have to think about which shot to hit, but then still hit the wrong shot, you are a 3.5

When you have to think about which shot to hit, but by the time you decide on the correct shot it’s too late to hit it so, you just go with trying to get it back over the net, you are a 3.0

When you don’t bother to think about which shot to hit, and most of the time don’t hit it in the court anyhow, you are a 2.5 and guaranteed to be having a lot of fun.

-credit to Pickleball Ontario

Round Robin Setup Form

We’ve added a Round Robin Setup form to the SJPA website. The form covers Round Robin play from 8 to 35 players and, as a bonus, a score sheet is located on the last page of the document.

To access the Round Robin Setup form:

  • Hover over “Pickleball Play” at the top of the SJPA website.
  • Scroll down and click on “Round Robin Setup”
  • Print the page or pages that you want to use.