Update from Club President

Update from our club President

QUAD CITIES PICKLEBALL CLUB 

NEWS BULLETIN: APRIL 22, 2022 

I know most of you have been active during the winter and early spring seasons but, like me, you are looking forward to being outside again. 

The Club’s Board and Committee Leads have also been busy off the courts and we wanted to give all our Club members an update on what’s been done and on some of the things that are planned for the summer season. 

First, let’s talk about money!  

The Quad Cities Classic Tournament that was held last September was a great financial success. Thanks to Cindy Wiseman and her Tournament Committee for that! We decided that we should use this money to benefit as many Club members as possible. With that in mind, we started two initiatives: 

1. Court Enhancements: 

We gathered requests from all our Court Ambassadors (*) for anything they felt their playing location could use. Almost all the requests were approved, so most of our locations will be receiving something new as the outdoor season gets underway. These items range from squeegees, ball holders, and first aid kits to windscreens, leaf blowers, and shade structures.  Many thanks to Board Member Gina DeWulf for coordinating that whole effort for us. And thanks to our Treasurer, Laurie Ochs, for keeping such an eagle eye on our bank account. 

(*) The Court Ambassadors act as a liaison between the Board and all the players at their designated location. If you are not sure who the ambassador is for your location, ask other players or check the website in the “About” section. 

2. Social Events: 

We asked Julie Miller, the head of our Social Committee, to “kick it up a notch” with respect to social events for Club members. She and her committee have come up with a variety of great activities to make pickleball more fun than ever. These will include an event called “Dinks with Drinks”, a spring picnic, a party bus, donut days, the Rock Island Labor Day parade, and “Glow 

in-the-Dark” pickleball. You will soon see the details of her committee’s work posted on the website. 

And speaking of the website: 

We have plans to completely revamp our website to make it more informative and easier to use.  The website technology we have in place now is very cumbersome so we will be investing in an entirely new platform.

New Logo: 

The Board has been working with a local graphic designer, and the Club has a new logo. We hope to see it displayed on a variety of merchandise sometime this summer. The new logo is a tribute to our bi-state nature and our beautiful new bridge. 

Leagues and Ladders: 

Some of you may be wondering about leagues or ladders for the summer season. Unfortunately, we have not found anyone who is willing to coordinate this effort for the Club as a whole. However, if anyone out there would like to set up a league or ladder at your playing location, you can certainly do so, as long as you are respectful of other non-league players who want to use the courts. We highly encourage running leagues in the late afternoons or early evenings to avoid conflicts with the heavy drop-in use in the mornings, and recommend that you don’t use all of the available courts. If you would like to set up a league and aren’t sure how to go about it, please contact the Club and we will find someone to advise you. 

Tournament: 

Yen Dao has a strong committee working on the 2022 Quad Cities Classic Tournament, to be held from September 16 – 18. We expect this year’s tournament to be an even bigger event than last year’s and encourage any of you who are interested in participating in a first-class tournament to sign up. You can find more information under the Tournament tab on our website. 

Training: 

There are lots of plans for training for the outdoor season. 

Sharon Walters has already scheduled a Pickleball 101 Class at RIFAC on April 27 and 28, and Ruth Senneff will be leading the 101 Class at Kiwanis on May 9. 

These first classes are already full but keep an eye out for additional sessions later on. The classes are free for anyone and all equipment is supplied. 

Steve Ebner will be providing a number of more advanced clinics during the summer at various locations. The first session is already planned for the Geneseo courts. It will run for three days – May 9, 10, 11, from 10:30 am to 12:30pm. Steve will take up to 12 participants and the clinic is free for Club members. 

Registration is for Geneseo players only until May 1 and will be open to anyone if the clinic is not full at that time. 

If you would like to have an advanced clinic at your location, please work through your Court Ambassador, who will contact Steve Ebner.

Junior Events: 

Ruth Senneff is a victim of her own success over many years in running clinics and camps for junior players. This year the demand is exploding: there are camps and clinics planned in five cities this summer. There will also be a Youth event during the Quad Cities Classic Tournament. More information about all the youth events can be found on the website. 

With all the youth activities planned this year, the Juniors Committee would love to have more people volunteer to help with a clinic or camp. If you enjoy working with young people and would like to pass on your enthusiasm for the game, please contact Ruth. 

Hospitality: 

Mary Healy heads up our Hospitality Committee. They send cards to Club members who might be in need of a little pick-me-up. If you know a Club member who is recovering from an illness or operation, or has recently lost a loved one, please let Mary know. 

Discount Pickleballs: 

One last thing: perhaps not everyone knows yet that the Club buys Franklin pickleballs in large quantities so we can sell them to members at a discounted price: 3 for $5. If you would like some of these balls, please work through your Court Ambassador to coordinate the sale and delivery. 

That’s a brief summary of some Club happenings as we move into the outdoor season. If you have any comments or suggestions regarding what the Club is doing (or not doing) please send an email with your thoughts to qcpickleball@gmail.com. 

Steve Morrison, President


 

LET’S GET SOCIAL!