Author: rkraemer333

SJPA 2024 Annual Meeting

CONGRATULATIONS TO THE WHITE TEAM!

Over ninety players, divided into four teams, competed in the 3rd Annual Battle of the Paddle event which was held at the Rymer Pickleball Courts on September 28th and 29th. Included in the competition were skill drills, dinking matches, and round robin play. Competition was fierce but friendly!

Captain Joe Waskas led his team to victory!

Second place went to the Blue team, with the Green team and the Silver Team placing third and fourth. 

Following the two days of play, a banquet was held at Members Club. Awards were presented and raffle prizes were awarded. Members Club provided a delicious buffet supper. Music, provided by DJ Rodney Axsom, got the crowd up and dancing for a great end to a truly fun weekend!

Carolyn Gaziano, once again, was on hand to capture many great moments. You can view all of her photos HERE.

Congratulations to everyone who competed and special thanks to the Events and Social committee members who planned and executed a great event. 

The St. James Pickleball Association (SJPA) started teaching pickleball to students at the Southport Elementary School two years ago. The kids were engaged and enthusiastic from the beginning, and now, they get very excited when they see the pickleball nets set up in the gym because they know what the day’s event is going to be. 

Because of this success, the program is being expanded to include the South Brunswick Middle School in Southport. To help start the middle school program, the SJPA donated 20 “gently” used paddles and 20 new pickleballs. SJPA member Holly Ahrens personally donated 15 “gently” used pickleballs.

The elementary school’s paddles needed new grips, having gotten some good use over the last two years. Kim Mihan, St. James’ Pickleball Pro, donated grips, and Rick Norton, SJPA member, re-gripped the paddles.

Courtney Nix, Southport Elementary P.E. teacher, was thrilled to receive these donations.  She loves working with the kids on pickleball and has seen the sport being enjoyed by kids of any athletic ability.  

SJPA members who help teach enjoy working with the kids and love to see them “get it” and have fun! The SJPA is looking forward to the next time we join the kids for some pickleball fun!

APPLY NOW

The SJPA is seeking to fill the following positions which start in 2025:

• Vice President – one year, elected Board position, followed by one year as SJPA president
• Tournaments and Events Director – two year, elected Board position
• Social Director – two year, elected Board position
• Communications Director – two year, elected Board position
• Webmaster – appointed position
• Sunshine Committee Chair – appointed position

If interested, please submit an email to stjamespickleballassociation@gmail.com expressing your interest along with a brief resume no later than October 31st.

If you have any questions or just want to learn more about any of these positions, feel free to contact any current member of the board, send an email to stjamespickleballassociation@gmail.com, or contact SJPA Vice President, Christine Cournoyer, at cccournoyer@gmail.com or 978-761-4468

Position descriptions are available in the SJPA Bylaws.

Three nights of play saw some very good competition and a lot of fun as the SJPA ladies competed in the Womens’ Championship Tournament over three consecutive evenings.

Congratulations to the winners and to everyone who participated in the event. Thanks also to everyone who came out to cheer for the ladies! And, special thanks to Carolyn Gaziano and Becky Jones for the great pictures!

Women’s Championship Pictures from Carolyn

Women’s 6.0 – Gold- Cindy Phillips and Katy Nasiff; Silver – Sandy Woods and Aleysa Waskas; Bronze – Tara MacCall and Susan Consoletti 

Women’s 6.5 – Gold – Lynne Albrecht and Janice Ammann; Silver – Katie Raiff and Brenda Gamba; Bronze – Wendy Reeves and Jane Martinez 

Women’s 7.0 – Gold – Alicia Mastropietro and Christine Cournoyer; Silver – Kathy McArthur, Teresa Grant and Kathy Cravinho; Bronze – Lynne Albrecht and Teri Romano

The SJPA Pool Party was a huge success. Originally scheduled to be at the Founders Pool, the party was quickly moved to the Seaside Pool because updates to Founders Pool would not be complete in time. Members enjoyed the good food, drink, socializing in and around the pool, and fun games. Once again, music was provided by DJ Dan. 

The Ice Breaker had each member trying to find their “mate,” by matching the number they were given at check-in to that of another member. Congratulations and a small prize were given to the first three “couples.”

The games were a lot of fun!   

The Tug-of-War was exciting as the men and then the ladies gave it their best.   

The Pickle Race, a Pool Party favorite, did not disappoint. Teams of five were gathered and each contestant grabbed an inflatable pickle to swim a lap down and back without letting go of the pickle. We have quite a few fast swimmers among our pickleball players.   

The Wet T-Shirt Race started with the first swimmer putting on a t-shirt, swimming one lap, removing the t-shirt, giving it a teammate to don (easier said than done), then the teammate swam back to the finish line. 

We had a few attempts at the new Inflata-Bull. A few brave men and women gave it a shot but found it was not so easy to get on that bull. Better luck next time!  

We had great weather with a nice breeze and a fantastic time was had by all.

Here’s what we learned from the survey: Most players enjoyed the event, thought it was well organized, would attend again, and had FUN!

Where can we improve?  Changing the tournament from two days to one was not well received and five game matches was about two games too many, leaving too much “standing around” time. The heat and humidity, which some suggested we should work on improving next time, added to the feeling of too many matches, taking too long.  (We’re working on that weather thing).  Suggestions were also made about switching up partners more frequently.

We’ll be using the responses and the suggestions offered for several events in the future. Thank you to all for your feedback.

Click here to see the full survey results, including all comments.

This event is always a popular one! Come on out for a fun evening of social pickleball play and enjoy playing with a pro as well! There are two sessions – Session 1 from 4:00 pm to 5:30 pm and Session 2 from 5:30 pm to 7:00 pm.

Mixed-Up Doubles and Play with a Pro – Session 1

Mixed-Up Doubles and Play with a Pro – Session 2

June 13 @ 5:00 pm – 8:00 pm

This POOL PARTY is gonna be fun! Don’t miss it!

The SJPA is excited to host this year’s POOL PARTY and Social at the SEASIDE POOL!

SJPA Pool Party

The SJPA held its first All Aboard Pickleball Tournament at the Rymer Courts on May 17^th. 

It was obvious from the start that this was going to be a close contest among four evenly matched teams. 

At the end of the first round, Blue Thunder, captained by Andrea Velez, had a slim lead on Blazing Pickles, captained by Joe Langereis, with Pickle Peppers, led by Karin Langereis, and Loco Motives, led by Scott Nasiff, both within striking distance of the lead.

After the second round, the standings remained the same, but things had tightened up a bit. Then, in the final round of the round robin format, Pickle Peppers overtook Blazing Pickles for second place to set up the championship match with Blue Thunder. Playing for the Bronze would be Blazing Pickles and Loco Motives. Blazing Pickles took third place over a feisty Loco Motives team. 

The championship round had Blue Thunder and Pickle Peppers tied with two wins each. So, it came down to tiebreakers.  The first tiebreaker ended with the two teams tied at six games each, forcing another tiebreaker. In a very close finish, Blue Thunder secured the win with 104 points to Pickle Peppers’ second place win with 97 points. 

Congratulations and thanks to all the players who signed up and played so valiantly and cheered so hard for their teammates; to the captains for their leadership and scheduling; and to the volunteers who kept the event running smoothly and on schedule. 

SJPA’s volunteer photographer, Carolyn Graziano, once again, did an amazing job capturing many great moments! View them all here

SJPA’s Third Annual Spring Fling was held on Saturday, May 4, at the Woodlands Park.

The Event proceeds, $2,947, have been donated to the Southport-Oak Island Interchurch Fellowship Food Pantry (SOIIFF). 

Those who attended had a wonderful time and supported a great cause.  D&A Wings, Captain John’s Seafood, and, of course, Chuck’s Ice Cream provided great food and treats.  Jam Sandwich was an awesome band and played great classic rock ‘n roll in the Woodlands’ Amphitheater.   Friendship, games, singing, and dancing were some of the highlights of a beautiful evening at Woodlands Park.   

We appreciate all of the St. James community for sharing in a fun time and in joining our efforts to benefit the SOIIFF, who, as always, are extremely grateful for the support.  

Great weather, food, and music was enjoyed by the 32 participants at this year’s Dinko de Mayo event. 

Led by eight faithful and dedicated SJPA volunteers, all players had a lot of fun as they rotated through the four different dinking stations. The dinking stations were followed by open play which allowed players to incorporate their newly gained or revitalized dinking skills. DJ Dan Heatherly, once again provided the music and colorful commentary throughout the event.

 Thanks to all who came out and helped make this such a great event!

Thanks again to our volunteers – Dan Heatherly, Mary Heatherly, Christine Cournoyer, Dick Cournoyer, Sandy Schach, Kathy McArthur, Bob Kunze, Joe Beitz, and Deb Chiarello and special thanks to our event coordinator, Kathy Kunze!

Enjoy the photos!

Thanks to the St. James pickleball players who volunteered their time over the past two weeks to instruct the 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade students at Southport Elementary to play pickleball. 

The students and coaches alike had lots of fun learning and playing and are looking forward to our return next year to expand on what they have learned. 

Many thanks for all the coaches, Janet Banks, Kathy Goliszek, Diana Kelly, Eileen and Mike Kopunek,  Diane Norton, Kim Nowakowski, Robin Pantalena, Karen and Jan Pasquale, Cathy Rienth, Marilou Rubright, Stacey Stanzel, Linda Troiano and Deb Warner. 

The students were also very appreciative of the new nets and pickleballs donated by the St. James Pickleball Association’s Sunshine Committee.  They have made a significant improvement in the program.  

The 55 players who attended the SJPA Mixed-Up Doubles event on April 24th did not let the wind deter them from having a great time!

The Round Robin format helped ensure that all players had a great experience and the random selection introduced more players to one another. Smiles and laughter were a testament to the good time and provided instant feedback that the event was a success.

We love to see new players make new friends and to see old friends reconnect. 

Kindness, respect, and fun was obvious on all the courts during this social event which mixed all levels of players.  

Thanks to all of the players who came out to have FUN with us on the courts and special thanks to those who donated food to the Southport-Oak Island Southport-Oak Island Interchurch Fellowship (SOIIF) Food Pantry. Our donations are truly appreciated by SOIIF.

Finally, thanks go to Andrea Velez for setting up the event, to the volunteers who helped ensure that the event ran smoothly, Lynn and Peter Albrecht, Leo Pacyna, and Robyn Smith, and to our wonderful volunteer photographer, Carolyn Graziano.  Their work and dedication to St. James Pickleball makes these events possible.

Here are a few photos for you to enjoy. If you’d like to see all of the pictures that Carolyn took, just click here.