
President's Message

Dear Sequim Picklers,
I am very excited about being back home to Sequim after a long winter in Arizona. I look forward to getting together with my many pickleball friends who I have missed dearly. I cannot wait to get back on the courts at Carrie Blake Park, as it just feels like too much time has passed.
The Board has been getting organized for the many planned events in 2024. As the weather improves, our programs at the courts will broaden. Many snowbirds will be coming home and it looks to be a very busy year at Carrie Blake Park. Many of the Sequim Pickler programs that now exist will expand just due to the spring weather, not to mention the membership growth. The Beginner's Classes, once started, are the largest classes and seem to take up the most court time. We will be looking for assistance at start-up; these classes rely on many volunteers.
On another note, I was contacted by the Poulsbo Pickleball Membership a few weeks back. They are trying to establish an indoor pickleball facility and they were wondering what kind of support they might receive from Sequim and how many Sequim Picklers might be interested in joining and playing indoor pickleball in Poulsbo. Of course, I told him we wanted our own courts! I also told him that I would send this note to the membership and communicate the number of responses who might be interested in playing at their facility. The cost was not yet determined, and I am not sure how many of the members would be willing to drive that far and also be willing to pay a fee. If you do have real interest, please let me know and I will tally the responses and communicate back.
Our goal here in Sequim is to: add additional outdoor courts, add lighting and, if possible, add some type of wind barrier. Lighting can extend the court time, especially in the evening when the weather is cooperating.
Stay tuned. I'll see you all on the courts in a few weeks,
Daryl Ness
SAVE THE DATE!
The next Sequim Picklers' Board of Directors Meeting will be held
Sunday, April 7th at 12:00 p.m.
135 Solana Pkwy, Sequim, WA 98382, USA

Membership Lowdown
Welcome to Pickleball Spring – this is the time before the official Spring date but after Daylight Saving Time is in place! This means more time on the court. YAY!
First, I want to give a huge welcome to our new members from the last time I reported: Terry Andersson, Joni Noges, Linda Roberts, Lisa Sutherland, Harry Rivera, Becky & Brian Gundersen, Rhonda & Scott Butler, Jules Clifford, Tanja (‘Tania’) Gruber & Michael Indresano, Dave & Edwina DeWald, Richard Klawitter. This puts this great club over 500 members!
Second, the following members have their Name Badge waiting for them in the shed, hanging on the back wall. Please pick up your badge and wear it proudly as you play.

Third, Membership Renewal is upon us. You will receive a renewal email in the first week of May. This email comes from PayPal so be sure to check your junk mail. We’ll send another reminder once the notices have been sent. The Membership Dues deadline is May 31st. For those who joined after July of 2023, your invoice will be prorated due to your partial-year membership.
Fourth, our website (sequimpickleball.com) and Facebook page are great places to keep up with what is happening. There is a lot of excitement for the MiLP format which is team-based and uses rally scoring. It’s a ton of fun! Teams put out a challenge and others accept. Watch FB and the website for when these ‘play dates’ are happening.
Any questions about the club? Ideas? Concerns, please contact me at libby.hartman@outlook.com or on my cell at 206-832-7627. And even better, call me to play!
Pickleball is Life!
Libby Hartman

Members! Please take a few minutes to review your Contact Information and keep us all up-to-date. If you have a new email, phone number, or address, contact our Membership Chair, Libby Hartman so that our records are correct.

Courtside News
Hi Everyone,
Here it is….! Our Spring programming begins April 1st! All events will be held at the Carrie Blake Park Courts and will happen, weather permitting. Watch the pop-up on the website or the Facebook Members Page for cancellations.
Morning Drop-In Drills
Gayle is offering morning drill classes Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday from 8:00 - 9:30 beginning April 7th. These are offered on a drop-in, first come first serve basis - no need to register. Instructors will try to hold a beginning, 2.5, 3.0, and 3.5 court.
Evening Ladder Play
Built-in competition without the long-term commitment of a league. Just come down and play!
Mondays 5:15 - 7:00 p.m.
Ladder 1 Beginner - For players looking to dip their toe into some organized play, and meet other novice players.
Ladder 2 2.5 - 2.9
Wednesdays 5:15 - 7:00 p.m.
Ladder 3 3.0 - 3.4
Doubles Rated Play
Every Saturday
9 - 10: 30 a.m. 2.0 and 3.0s 10:30 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. 3.5+
We will try and get everyone some competitive game time. There will be no recorded scoring. We take whatever “ingredients” we have and make the best possible games!
Beginning Classes
Sundays 3:00 - 5:00 p.m. - We are still looking for volunteer instructors. You don’t have to be perfect to teach others what you know. This is a great way to get involved and give back to the Club!
Drop-In - no registration needed.
MiLP
We are experimenting with an open MiLP registration for Thursday, April 4th. This is designed for those wanting to participate in an MiLP format without the need to form a team. Sign up as an individual, and a committee of Kendal, Chris, and Gayle will draft teams for the evening. They will do their best to form balanced, competitive teams. Link here to register. I want to stress that all levels of play are welcome. We are all just learning this new format - expect fun, not perfection!
MiLP Challenges
We are continuing to build a list of teams and have a few challenges on the calendar! Come down and watch! We are looking for those wanting to learn to referee. Talk to Chris Jafay if you have any questions.
Spring Fling - June 27 - 30
The Spring Fling is our tournament of the year. Register by March 31st for a discount. Visit PickleballBrackets.com to register.
For more details on spring programming check out the Sequim Pickler’s website under “Let’s Play” and “Events”.
Other notes:
Thanks to Rodney Diseker and Jeff Powers for tightening all the wind braces, and Ken Sorbel for fixing the south gate closure.
And lastly, I want to send out a special thanks to "Rob the Bank" Wright. He has decided to step down after serving on the PCOC committee for the past two years. Among many things, he has helped keep the courts clean and the lobster working. We will miss him!
Here's to longer days!
Lettie

Sequim Picklers ball caps are still available! They are perfect for keeping the sun out of your eyes and off your face as the days get longer and warmer. Contact Katinka Nanna if you would like to add one to your collection.
Pickleball News From Across the Pond
Hi Picklers!
'Checking in and sending pickleball news your way. I have found two clubs since arriving in England. Both are about a 15-minute drive, so not a bad drive.
The first Club (Guisley Picklers) is located in Guisley and plays on badminton courts at a local school; we use badminton nets with a piece of tape showing the correct height for the net. On a badminton court, the kitchen line is 61/2 feet. The floor is wood, like the ones at the Boys & Girls Club. We have four courts and play every Sunday for a whole hour. Hopefully, starting in April, we will go to 2 hours.

The 2nd Club is Pickle-In-Wharfedale, playing in Ilkley. We also play at a local school on four badminton courts. This group has purchased Swiftnet pickleball nets. I think the floor is concrete (would they have a concrete floor in a school gym?). This group plays three nights a week for 2 hours each night.
Both clubs are composed of mostly beginners and current/ex-tennis/badminton players. The only stroke they know is the full-power tennis swing. Warm-ups begin by standing at the base line, hitting the ball to each other as hard as they can. When I asked my warmup partner to come to the kitchen line and dink, she was surprised (but did it). I have met a couple who want to take lessons (not from me, a real coach) and really learn the game. They have been playing since November and are going to be good players. Maybe potential tournament partners?
It's surely a different take on the game compared to what we have in Sequim!
See you in June for a week!
Terri Wiebe
The Esprit Conference is coming back to Port Angeles and as a part of the festivities, event coordinators are in the process of planning their Pickleball Tournament, which will be held on Monday, May 13th. Pickleball lessons for newcomers will be held at 10 am, and a 3-hour Pickleball Tournament will begin at noon.
The event will take place at the Elks outdoor courts in Port Angeles, and we are looking for Sequim Picklers volunteers to teach, referee, and help coordinate the event. If you are interested, please contact Katinka Nanna.
Members-only Links
The Member's Only page password is SweetOrDill23 (please note this changed on August 10th). Save this for future use, but please don't share it with non-members.

Sequim Picklers Have a New Forum!
Have you been looking for a venue to communicate with other Sequim Picklers - a place to find a partner for a tournament, someone to drill with, or even share resources that would benefit other Club members? Look no further than our new Virtual Bulletin Board.
How to Post
Simply double tap anywhere or select the plus (+) button. A simple text post will appear. To attach a file or link, click any of the icons below the text. Padlet supports every file type you can imagine, from an Excel spreadsheet, to a Spotify playlist, to a YouTube Video, to any link from any site.
Etiquette
The rules are simple: No trash talk. No politics. Topics need to be pickleball-related and beneficial to our membership. Posts must include your contact information. If you post an item for sale and sell it, or are looking for something in particular and find it, please come back and remove your post. This is a MEMBERS ONLY forum….please do not share the link.Admin reserves the right to delete posts that do not conform to these
rules.
Questions? Send an email to Tanya Baumgardner

Pickleball RULES!
There are some rules that bear repeating even though they have been in effect for at least the past 10 years. These are common errors seen on the courts.
Rule 7.1 in the 2024 Official Rule Handbook for Pickleball states it is a fault if a "ball in play [is] stopped by a player before it becomes dead." This means, that if a player catches a ball ANYWHERE ON THE COURT during a point, it is a fault. This includes inside the official playing surface as well as outside the playing lines. It does not matter if the ball looks like it is on its way to Portugal. If you catch the ball before it bounces, the fault is on the catcher, NOT the side that hit it.
Wiffle balls are tricky little devils, and they can be affected by little things, including gusts of wind. A ball can literally look like it is flying outside the boundaries of the court, and suddenly it turns, or drops, and ends up in the court. There are no "gentleman's agreements." Let the ball bounce before you declare it out.
Another common - too common - error is either not calling the full score BEFORE you start the serve. That means all three numbers: server's score, receiver's score, and your position as server (1 or 2). This does not mean it is okay to call the score while starting the serve. The purpose of calling the score is to notify the other team that they need to be ready and that within the next 10 seconds the ball will be served (Rule 4.A.1.) Rule 4.M.9. reiterates that it is a fault on the serving side if the server hits the ball WHILE the score is being called.
And finally, common error number three: after the serve, the receiver OR their partner is touched or interferes with the flight of the ball before it bounces (Rule 4.N.1.). Being hit by the opponent's service ball anywhere on the court before it bounces is a fault on the receiving team, not the serving team. The result is either a second server or a side-out.
If you have questions about things you see happening on the court, please send them to kwt.dr588@gmail.com.
— Sequim Pickler Kathryn (“K.T.”) Thomas, is a Registered Trainer of Referees and former USA-Pickleball District Ambassador for the Pacific Northwest Coast.
Congratulations to everyone who played in The Olympic Pickleball Tournament the weekend of February 23rd. A good time was had by all, and friends old and new made the turnout all the more fun. Check out the Peninsula Daily News for details!


IF YOU'RE THE LAST PICKLER TO LEAVE THE COURTS, please put away all balls and toss abandoned items (water bottles, sweatshirts, paddles, sunglasses) into the Lost & Found box in the shed. Lock up the shed and be sure to spin the combination so that it cannot be pulled open.
NO DOGS ON THE PICKLEBALL COURTS by order of the City of Sequim. Dogs are also prohibited from hanging out in the center alley between the courts. (Apologies to our canine friends...)
WEAR YOUR BADGE. Let the world know who you are — a proud Pickler. Carry your badge in your pickleball bag to snap on when you hit the courts.
WHITELISTING. Add "sequimpicklers@gmail.com" to your Contacts list and avoid having to search your Spam, Junk, and Trash mailboxes for the latest Sequim Picklers Update and other Club communications.

The Sequim Pickler Update comes out each month on the 16th. If you would like to contribute an article, picture, or link, please send your submission to Tanya Baumgardner no later than the 11th of the month.