HIGHLIGHTS

Beat The Heat With The New Indoor Courts In Gainesville

The newly built 114,000 square foot Alachua County Sports & Event Center in Celebration Pointe in Gainesville had their grand opening on June 10th It has 21 pickleball courts, and the courts were a huge success at the grand opening Mary Rossow was hired to be the Pickleball Coordinator at the facility She starts Pickleball summer camps this month, for ages 8 to 14 They are also a USA Pickleball Youth Program Provider and have plans for a youth program

AFGYLE FOREST • JACKSONVILLE

Greetings Picklers!,

Update on Argyle Forest pickleball located at 8533 Acanthus Drive Jacksonville. Argyle Forest began December 2022. We have daily open play weekday evenings from 5-9 pm and weekend mornings from 7;30am-12:00pm. Play is scheduled using a daily poll with Whatsapp. We have over 280 members on Whatsapp and over 600 members on the Argyle Pickleball Facebook group. Argyle hosts many FREE events such as 14, 16, and 18 MLP (Mini Pickleball Leagues) and a variety of round robins catering to all levels of play. For more information about FREE events at Argyle Forest text Kelly 352-455-0078.

We were recently blessed by Evangel Temple which partnered with Big Country Pickleball hosting a 53 player round robins. All participants received drawstring bags, towels, shirts, balls, water, snacks, and much more for participating. Winners received gift cards. Argyle Pickleball was presented with a court squeegee.

My husband Jeff and I were voted on to the Argyle Athletic Association board for Jacksonville. We are representing pickleball and coordinating with other sports in the area.

Argyle Pickleball has many tournament participants medaling throughout the United States with recent gold medal wins in New York and Alabama. We have members participating in pro and senior pro events. Argyle promotes day event trips to Pictona and hosts event for visitors from all around Florida travelling from Orlando, Daytona, and Ocala. Argyle is growing its youth participation by including many youth players in round robin events and MLP events.

I have been communicating with the city regularly to keep the bathrooms clean and replacing the burnt-out court lights Argyle Forest is a public facility with 12 courts divide into pods which offers a 4 on 4 off rotation for levels of play which includes advanced play to novices / beginner We have to challenge courts with a 2 on 2 off rotation We are awaiting official signage by the end of June All tournaments, clinics, and lessons must remain FREE at Argyle

Next Generation Picklers

The students at Fort Clarke Middle School in Gainesville played Pickleball for the entire month of May and loved it They are going to expand their program next year Some of their paddles were donated from the Selkirk “in the schools” program

Iptpa Level I Certification Program

Congratulations Mary Rossow for completing her IPTPA Level I Certification Program April 14, 2023 She is already underway giving a number of lessons, but still enjoys giving free lessons to beginners so they can enjoy the great game of pickleball

Ambassadors Bob Crow, Dennis McGill and Mary Rossow attended a City of Gainesville Commission meeting June 8th Wild Spaces Public Places (WSPP) was one of the items on the agenda and they presented their Proposed 2024 -2026 Work Plan Part of WSPP’s plan is to demolish the racquetball courts at Tom Petty Park and build eight dedicated pickleball courts with lights! This project should be completed in 2024 Ambassador Bob Crow spoke and expressed our appreciation and excitement for the pickleball plans at Tom Petty Park They also asked them to consider using WSPP funds to convert the multi-use courts to dedicated courts to accommodate large tournaments

Church Adds More Courts

Mary Rossow worked with the First Baptist church in Alachua to tape 2 additional indoor pickleball courts to add to the 2 from last year She then gave two free classes to ‘Senior’ members They are having so much fun with it and have a group that meets every Friday evening

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Crowd Sourcing

Saint Augustine Ron Parker Memorial Park

Pickleball Players join together to crowd sou in order to purchase a VAPTR ROLLER to ea dry the courts They also were granted permission to modify the courts to add a loc enclosure They worked together to design a build a custom shed No more long waits aft the rain for those who call Ron Parker their home courts

Michelle Mallard • Saint Johns

Special Olympics

Special Olympics Pickleball is coming to Gainesville

Mary Rossow and Cole Childers have been in contact with them to set them up at our Veterans Memorial Park venue They will start their season July 27th with practices Thursday evenings at 5:30 They will have a coach certification on July 15th for any volunteers interested in coaching