Category: SJPA Sponsored

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!

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.

Are you new to Pickleball?  Would you like to practice skills to advance your game?  

Christine’s Beginner Round Robin is open to men and women that want to learn pickleball and improve their game. We will focus on serves, volley’s, dinking and much more. You do not need to be rated to participate. 

According to the Sports & Fitness Industry Association’s report, pickleball is the fastest growing team sport in America. So come see what all the fuss is about and join us for a great time learning and improving your game!

This Event will NOT be available on the FIRST Wednesday of every month. It will be scheduled for the remaining Wednesday’s of each month – SIGN UP WILL START SEPTEMBER 5.

Play starts on September 13th.

Men’s Doubles Event to take place from September 10th to September 30th for 3.5+ TROON rated players.

Find out more and register

Published July 23, 2023

The St. James Pickleball Association (SJPA) provides a “New to St. James Pickleball” event each month. This event is starting back up this Wednesday, September 6, 2023.

Registration starts now.

ABOUT THIS EVENT:
This clinic provides the basics of the game from serve to volley and dinking.  It is a foundation for playing.  If you don’t know if pickleball is the game for you, this is the way to find out.

This event is an introduction to pickleball, you can only attend this event one time.

IS THERE A FEE?
You do not have to be a member of the St. James Pickleball Association  (SJPA), however, you must be a member of the Clubs at St James.  You must be a Signature Sport or Golf member. This time only, if you are only a Social Member, you will be assessed a $10 fee to use the courts. 

I’M A MEMBER OF THE CLUBS AT ST JAMES VS. SJPA MEMBER
–Your Signature Sport or Signature Golf membership is with Troon, the country club management company, also called The Clubs At St James. Fees paid to The Clubs At St James are your country club dues.
–The St James Pickleball Association (SJPA) is also a members only association working with SJPA members hosting events and socials throughout the year. The SJPA has a $20 yearly, per person fee. Almost ALL events on our calendar are for SJPA members only. The events listed on the calendar will always specify otherwise.

Play starts: Wednesday, September 6, 2023

It started out windy, but that was OK because the wind was a welcome relief from the heat.

The music from DJ Tim Axiom created the beach party atmosphere.

We had a great crowd from both the pickleball and tennis associations. The wind subsided about an hour after the party started. This turned into a perfect night to be listening to music on the beach. Friends, music, and sunsets, make life on the beach the best.

Pickleball in St James….In the beginning
The short story, is our St. James resident Fred Ammann and a small group of residents started playing pickleball over on Oak Island in 2015. By spring of 2016, at Fred’s suggestion, Troon management reappointed the tennis hitting wall space at Seaside into two pickleball courts.

St. James Plantation is no exception to the popularity of pickleball. In the Spring of 2018 Cindy Hettinger and a group of pickleball enthusiasts quickly signed up 277 people who were interested in pickleball. Today, our St. James Pickleball Association (SJPA) has over 570 (updated since the article) and is still growing for 2023.

Our Growth…
After many growing pains, we now have eight beautiful, lighted courts at the Greg Rymer Memorial Pickleball Courts and the two courts at the Seaside Wellness Center available for Sport and Golf members.

The SJPA volunteers run an event once a month called: New To Pickleball. This clinic teaches the basics of the game from serve to volley and dinking.

In September of 2020 our first president, Scott Hettinger, contacted Al Hausmann to create a logo, develop a website and an SJPA facebook page. SJPA website is an active, up-to-date, interactive website hosting all communications, events, socials, pictures, and external pickleball news. Alerts are sent out to all members regarding SJPA projects:

• Invitations to parties and social events, including our annual holiday party.
• Tournaments.
• Leagues.
• Round robins.
• Ladders.
• On-court and social events.
• SJPA sends notifications about local pickleball events and camps.
• https://stjamespickleball.com

 Events for local charities:

• Winter Dance featuring The Salty Dawgs raised $3325 to benefit Matthew’s Ministry.
• Our Social Committee ran our 2^nd Annual Spring Fling (music festival) raising $4309 for the Southport Oak Island Interchurch Fellowship Food Pantry (SOIIFFP).
• Make a Wish Social Fundraiser.
• We are providing volunteers and donating paddles for a summer camp for under-served kids in Brunswick County.
• Sneaker drive collected over 1,100 pairs of sneakers which converted into nearly $1000 for Waves 4 K.I.D.S.
• Our Sunshine Committee provides a little sunshine to SJPA members who’ve experienced an illness, injury, or loss of an immediate family member. They also sponsor food drives at many of our events to benefit SOIIFFP.

SJPA Board of Directors is our advocate and directly represents our members with the Clubs At St. James management (Troon).  

Our current board consists of: Deb Chiarello, and George Johnson, Kathy McArthur, Mary Heatherly, Al Hausmann, Jeff Franken, and Liz Wilson.

Membership and Benefits: A SJPA membership costs only $20 / year per person. Social events: pool parties, progressive dinner, beach parties, and more.

• Organized on-court social events, fundraisers, round robins, tournaments, and leagues.
• Beginner pickleball instructional play.
• Other opportunities to mix and mingle with fellow SJPA members.
• Direct communication with our club owners, Troon, via the Sports Advisory Committee, where the SJPA continues to advocate for improvements, expansion, programming, etc. on behalf of our membership.

Get ready for the 2023 Battle of the Paddle Team Tournament sponsored by SJPA and Troon! This two-day FUN tournament is for all SJPA rated members.

Find out more….

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. 

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

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! 

The beautiful weather – absolutely BEAUTIFUL. Fantastic music provided by Cat-a-tonic’s. Dinners provided by the 2Bros and A&M Red Food Trucks – DELICIOUS and Chuck’s Ice Cream – ALWAYS A FAVORITE.

Of course, all who attended – made for a wonderful evening and VERY successful fundraising event. With great attendance, generous donations and a hefty 50/50 drawing, we raised $4309 for the Southport/Oak Island Interchurch Fellowship Food Pantry (SOIICF).

This year’s event took place on the lawn at Woodlands, and we heard good things about how nice it was to spread out, easy to venture around, say hello to friends and neighbors, and play a game or two.

The SJPA Board and Social Committee thank you for supporting our efforts to provide, not only a great social event for our membership, but more importantly help our local community with a substantial donation that is so very needed.

Once again, we would like to thank Carolyn for the excellent pictures:
https://www.amazon.com/photos/shared/Z1IWvhmRSE2rjKXzDVcH7w.grrhTBtylLIVg9fTJ2QCbp

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