We're happy to say that we will again provide organized club play at Red Willow, Bertha Kennedy, Joseph Demko, Sister Alphonse, JJ Nearing and Holy Family.  

We've also secured two new venues this year - Lois Hole School and Level 1 Sports (see separate article on Level 1 Sports below). 

Unfortunately, things haven't worked out for Sturgeon School nor North Pointe Community Church, but we're always on the look out for more reasonably priced venues to give you as many play opportunities as possible.

Indoor play will begin in late September or early October at our various indoor venues.  You may receive e-mails with more specifics as details are worked out regarding dates, times and rating levels for the various venues that have been secured.  The best source of information will always be the Calendar information available on the SAPC website.  You should note that for the school venues that have been secured, those Calendars are now visible on the SAPC website.   As well, please consider the fact that the available play days at each school venue may change from month to month, so you should always be checking the on line Calendar (eg. Bertha Kennedy only offers two Fridays per month - you cannot assume that play will occur every Friday evening).

It bears repeating - the most accurate and up-to-date information on upcoming indoor play is in those Calendars which you can access by clicking on this link.  If you  are not familiar with these Calendars, here's what you need to know:

• your Club website has a Calendar menu and Calendar page for each of our venues,
• the combined "Indoor" Calendar shows all the advertised indoor play, all on one page,
• the "Reserved Play" Calendar shows all reservable sessions and reservable series play
• the Calendar for each level (eg. 3.0) shows all the play that players at that level can either drop in for or reserve

Many thanks to Eileen our Venue Manager for all of her hard work in negotiating and securing these venues for our growing number of members - we really appreciate having so many indoor play options as the cold weather sets in.  As well, Ray and Carol have done a tremendous job in getting all of the relevant play session details into the SAPC website using the software that is available for this purpose - this is not easy and takes a lot of time and dedication!

Stickers

The Club has grown tremendously in recent months and some of those new members may not be aware that stickers are our currency of choice for indoor play.  If you do not already have a supply of stickers, they may be purchased by logging into the SAPC website and clicking on this link.  If you have a past supply of stickers you should note that they do not expire and may still be used. 

Generally speaking, players must bring one sticker to drop in play sessions and two stickers are required for reserved play (eg. Red Willow Church).

Captains

Please note that Captains are needed for the following play sessions:

• the ALL session on Fridays at Holy Family School 

• the 3.0 session at Bertha Kennedy on Friday evenings

• the Saturday 2.5 session at Bertha Kennedy 

• the Saturday ALL session at Bertha Kennedy

If you are interested in volunteering to be a captain, please do so by emailing VenueManager@pickleballstalbert.ca and advising which session you would like to captain.

Series Play - Level 1 Sports (New Venue)

You could say we were lucky to get this new venue, but good luck often goes to those who are prepared.  And it was Eileen's diligence with another of our sports affiliates that resulted in this lead - it was her pursuit of that lead that landed us this great opportunity.  Thanks Eileen!

For more information about this new venue including its location please click on this link.

As you may have noticed, we are announcing Series Play by direct email to each member qualified to register in that series.  For example, all members with a 3.5 consolidated club rating are getting an email for each 3.5 series play session.  If you haven't seen these emails, check your junk or spam folder.  If needed, designate that mail as "safe" or designate the sender's email address to be a safe sender.  If you've opted out of getting emails you would need to opt back in.

Now that Eileen has secured this new venue, we just have to fill up our proposed play times so we can hold onto this golden opportunity.  How do we do that?  By quickly filling (selling) all available reservable slots in our series play.  So, if you haven't already seen some emails from us on this venue:

1.  Go to the Level 1 Sports Calendar and flip ahead to October,
2.  Find a series that is at your level, read the details carefully, and reserve and pay for your spot.
3.  If you are interested in a series but it is full, add your name to the waiting list as some cancellations are expected.  If you are at the top of the waiting list you will get an automatic email inviting you to pay to fill an open spot - please be quick because our system will offer the spot to the next member on the list if you don't respond
4.  If you don't yet see a series for you, check back later or watch your email.   We are releasing more as soon as the current ones fill up.

So far, based both on the actual reservations we're seeing and based on email requests to our Venue Manager (Eileen), we're offering or planning to offer:

•  Series A:  a Monday morning series of 6 weekly plays for 24 to 26 players at the 3.5 club consolidated rating level,
•  Series B:  a Tuesday* morning series of 6 weekly plays for 24 to 26 4.0+'s (4.0, 4.5 and 5.0)
•  Series C1 and C2:  a Wednesday* morning series of 6 weekly plays for 13 3.5's; and another for 13 4.0+s
•  Series D1 and D2:  a Thursday* morning series of 6 weekly plays for 13 3.0+ (3.0 and 3.5); and another for 13 All play (unrated players or players at any level)

How does Level 1 Sports compare to other indoor venues and play opportunities, you ask?   Well:

•  The tetraflex sports floor is better for pickleball than either concrete or plywood,
•  There is ample room around each court for those "around the post" shots and running serves,
•  Each set of 2 courts has a divider to contain balls,  
•  You get maximum play time in your two hours, and
•  You get to play with the very friendly members of our great club (all rated the same way you are!)
•  The cost per session of our series play is less than, say, the drop in rate at a local city facility 

What does SAPC series play at Level 1 Sports cost?

•  A series of 6 play sessions costs $47.62 ($50 with GST)
•  A series of 4 play sessions costs $32.38 ($34 with GST)

If you have a club credit, be sure to use that credit in your next club purchase.  The credit can be used for reserved series play, membership fees, sticker cards or other items sold through our Wild Apricot website.  To use your credit, follow the process on our "Member Help FAQ" page, under the Members menu (you must be logged in to see that page).

2023 Memberships may be purchased starting October 1.  Any membership bought on October 1, 2022 or later (up to September 30, 2023) is effective to the end of December 2023.

Don't forget that you must also renew your PIckleball Alberta and Pickleball Canada memberships, and should do so before renewing your SAPC membership.  See the Join webpage at https://www.pickleballstalbert.ca/Join for more details.

Until next time, keep your paddle up!