REPOST: This is a repost of the thanks that the NJPA gave to the NJ Senior Olympics Committee.
The New Jersey Pickleball Association (NJPA) congratulates all NJSO Pickleball Committee members and the staff they assembled. At the wonderful tournament held on September 8 and 9, 2017, they achieved the impossible: they provided practically ideal weather conditions for the competition! On top of that, they added the wind factor so as to test our skill levels. This certainly changed the dynamic of the game for some of us.
These members are all volunteers with heart and passion for building the sport of pickleball. NJPA considers this NJSO Pickleball Tournament as the premier event in New Jersey, and we should all be very proud to have such a momentous tournament for the sport of pickleball in our state.
NJPA gives a special shout-out to the key pickleball chairpersons and committee members who made this 2017 NJSO pickleball event such an exhilarating experience:
Pickleball Sports Chairpersons
- Frank Nobile
- Ed Nadelman
- John Delmasto
Pickleball Committee Members
- John Neglia
- Mel Nudelman
- Joel Greenberg
- Barry Panson
- David Kerstein
- Karin Rentschler
Challenges
These considerable challenges were met with thoughtful planning and execution:
- Putting together a tournament to accommodate more than 175 participants;
- Preparing and monitoring 10 pickleball courts;
- Including 15 different age brackets;
- Comprising four group events: mixed doubles and men’s and women’s doubles and singles;
- Providing trained scorekeepers for each event;
- And completing all of this in two days.
Our chairpersons and committee members know that even with the best planning and execution, there’s always room for improvement; and they all welcome constructive suggestions.
Scorekeeping
NJPA promotes higher-quality tournaments by training more player-scorekeepers for NJSO and other tournaments. We’re proud to have contributed 10 trained scorekeepers for this 2017 NJSO event.
Accordingly, we encourage all tournament players to learn the scorekeeper role themselves and to contribute to the sport by volunteering their services in future tournament events. We hope that you will be prepared to make your contribution to the 2018 NJSO tournament as both a player and scorekeeper.
You will discover the benefits that accrue to volunteer scorekeepers: not only do you support the sport, but you learn the finer points of the art of pickleball. On a personal level, you get an incomparable close-up view of how medalist players perform.
Thank you all for the memories! We’ll see you next time!