I wanted to share with you why I created http://ybi.sxl.mybluehost.me and what I hope to accomplish. This is my Vision.
Background
Kathleen and I started playing Pickleball back in September 2016. She signed us up to for “Introduction to Pickleball” through the Monmouth County Parks program. Well, I’m sure like most of you, I didn’t really understand what pickleball was, and oh, what a stupid name.
I’ll be honest, I didn’t want to research it too much because I hate going into things with expectations. I prefer to let experiences make their own impressions. We showed up on the first night and was instantly greeted by Kim Smith with a smile and some basic instruction. We worked a few drills to get us familiar with things and covered the basics of the rules.
Kim was great. Not sure how she keeps up with 12 newbies all with different experience and expectations, but she did it (and continues to do it every week). In the beginning, I admit, I was overwhelmed…I had played years of platform tennis, so needed to un-learn how to score and adapt to the rules of pickleball…and I remember thinking…WTF is this kitchen thing for? As the weeks went on, Kathleen and I continued to improve and look less awkward. Some of the things were starting to make sense.
Every week we’d see people filing in the bleachers for open play waiting to get on right after Kim’s class was over. We’d stick around and watch for a bit and it was clear we had a long way to go before we could hold our own there.
On our own
We completed Kim’s class and then went to open play sessions for beginners. Here we are, a group of beginners left to their own devices, to forge their own paths to get better, to get frustrated because you aren’t sure what the stragties are. We weren’t sure what shots are good shots and what skills were needed to play with the Intermediate & Advanced group. Not everyone was comfortable or able to jump in feet first and sink or swim with the Intermediates. Don’t get me wrong, the Intermediate/Advanced group were very friendly and welcoming, but who wants to go look like they don’t belong there?
Back to Now
Here we are, 9 months later. Kathleen and I learned to swim in the Intermediate/Advanced group, but we learned a bunch of things that hopefully can help others have a more structured way to improve. Additionally, finding the “right” game is highly nuanced. In some cases, the friendly games have become so popular that we have capacity problems and people don’t want them becoming any more popular. These aren’t new problems created by pickleball by any means, they exist in every group activity that requires a dedicated venue.
Objectives
- Help beginners with resources that help them focus on improving
- Help everyone find the right types of games
- Share the current pickleball related news/activities that keep everyone up to date
- Provide a place to find both sanctioned and non-sanctioned tournaments (for both participation and observation)
- Understand what the local pickleball community needs from a website and provide it.
The Future
As I write this, things are changing, the capacity problems are improving and the future of pickleball in Monmouth County and surrounding areas look great. The website is just getting started and I have lots of things that I want to do.
Goals
- Allow people to post pick-up games and have people say they will attend
- Get community contributors that can help round out the content of the site
- Post clinics that are available
- Other things based on community feedback
What this website is not
This website is not for sharing information about private clubs, games/matches. All of the information posted here will be accessible to everyone. It is also not a place to bitch and complain. Content that doesn’t adhere to these simple objectives will be removed.
I really hope you find this site valuable. If you have any comments, suggestions or feedback, please let me know via the Contact page.