Best Guess: Wulf Will Be Down to Two Courts Starting Tomorrow
We’ve been waiting for the interim schedule - tomorrow through end of the year - but haven’t seen an update as of this writing. But based on the Thanksgiving break the schedule won’t change from what it’s been, just the number of courts available will be down to two at least until 10 am. In other words, tomorrow will be Intermediate/Novice 8 am- 9:45 on two courts, Mixed 9:45-10:45 on two or four courts, and Advanced/Upper Intermediate 10:45-noon on four courts, hopefully. Nothing’s official until EPRD posts something.
Why is Mixed Play So Hard to Understand?
Well, maybe it’s because EPRD’s new definition of Mixed play is contradictory. Here’s what they say (look at the second page of the gymnasium schedule):
“Mixed ‐ Open to all levels. Transitional mixed times are intended for players to ‘mix it up’ with other skill levels to ‘play up’ and ‘play down’ to get to know each other and help develop better players at every level.
Players may self‐select the appropriate level of play. Please make sure that you choose the level that will best fit for you and others.”
Which is it? If you don’t want to “mix it up” and play across skill levels, it seems you don’t have to. On the other hand, the intention of Mixed play is to play with others of skill level above or below yours.
But what’s clearly not acceptable is to grab a group of four advanced players, move to a far court and hold that court for the remainder of Mixed play time. If there are paddles down limit yourselves to one game, get off the court and let someone else play. Only seems right.
Who Knew Snow Angles Were a Thing?
If you’d like to volunteer to be a Snow Angel at Marshdale and help clear the courts of snow, contact USA Pickleball Ambassador Linda Jacobsen. She has 35 volunteers but could always use help.
It looks like tomorrow at 10 am will be partly cloudy, high 40s and winds in the single digits. Let’s get out and play.
EPC Hosts 23 Evergreen High School Pickleball Players
Last Tuesday, PE teacher Beau Brake brought his class to Wulf for a match up with some EPC players. Owen Ellis and Gig Blitz took the advanced players on, while Scott Williams, Frank Kassay andf Bob Taber helped the intermediate players develop their skills, and Jeri Herskovits and LInda Jacobsen showed the novice players how to play. Beau said he’ll bring his next semester class back to play with us in a month or two. He’s also hosting an EHS Pickleball Tournament in the spring. We might get the chance to square off against the winning teams.
Seems everyone had a good time. We invited the students to come play at Wulf any time. If you see them come in, looking to play, give them a warm welcome and ask if they want to play among themselves or mix it up with some of our regulars.