Hello MBPC
First off, I think I speak for everyone on the Board, WELCOME 2021!!!
2020 has been a challenging year for everyone, worldwide. With that in mind, we, as a club, have also had to deal with our own struggles internally because of the pandemic. This newsletter is intended to inform you of some of the changes in global pickleball as well as some of the things we are doing as a club to get ready for play once allowed in Monterey County.
As it currently stands, MBPC is still not holding organized play due to Monterey County orders on organized sports related to current COVID cases in the county. I have been in communication with the cities of Monterey and Pacific Grove, their intent is to open up as the county guidelines allow. MBPC has the equipment and facilities lined up for organized play as soon as it allowed by our county. We are eagerly awaiting the opportunity to get back on the courts with our MBPC family!
We have a couple of positions available on the board that were up for re-election, I have currently not received any outreach from members for interest, however, if anyone is interested in running for the positions of Vice President (currently Richard Quackenbush), Treasurer ( Bob Ogle) or Board Member (Barb Lang), please reach out to me by phone or email by March 1st. Otherwise the these members have committed to another 2 year term.
There have been a few changes to the rules of Pickleball this year that many of you may know. I will include a brief summary here but if you want to read about the 180+ changes you can find them on the USAPA website.
There are 2 main rule changes I will summarize here:
The first change is that a serve that hits the net and falls into the correct service area (previously replayed under the old rules) will be considered a live ball. This means that it must be played by the receiving team or it will result in a point for the serving team. A serve that hits the net and falls into the kitchen or bounces out of bounds will result in that players loss of serve (remains the same as the previous rules). The reason for this change was to ensure that play would not be affected by an errant “let” or lack of “let” call. This was also intended as a means to speed up the pace of play.
The second change was to allow a “drop” serve. This rule allows the server to “drop” the ball from a stationary hand and allow the ball to bounce before the ball is struck. The sticking points to this rule is that the ball must be dropped; not thrown down or tossed up before it strikes the ground. The benefits to this serve is that facilitates an easier way to learn the serve as well as giving options for those of us that have struggled to get serves in. There are a few videos posted on YouTube that show what is legal and illegal in regards to the drop serve. If you have any questions in regards to either of these new rules or about the game in general, please feel free to reach out to me and I will give you my best interpretation.
Lastly, we have received a few inquiries about our Club dues, what they are for and if we are refunding dues for last year due to the lack of club sponsored play. Keep in mind that MBPC was organized as a non-profit entity a few years back to enable us to accept donations from individuals and corporations for the betterment of pickleblall on the Monterey Peninsula. As such, we do not collect "dues" per se, however, we do suggest an annual membership contribution from those that want support the club and its mission. As a club, we are trying to provide a social atmosphere to play pickleball on the Monterey Peninsula. We have been working with various cities and organizations to secure places to play that would allow regular times for members to attend. We are also actively pursuing a permanent facility.
We use the suggested $20 annual tax-deductible contributions to help pay for our website, maintain our non-profit status, and provide equipment during the club sponsored play.
Many of you have signed up for payment through the website. There were two options when you signed up on our website:
Annual renewal would require you to resubmit payment every year
Auto-renewal would automatically collect your contribution once a year.
If you feel like we are not giving you the pickleball experience worthy of your donation or wish to discontinue club membership, please contact us via the club website and we will address the issues. We as a board are doing our best to try to provide our members with a fun positive experience. We can’t improve upon your experience without feedback.
Thank you for continuing your support of the Monterey Bay Pickleball Club. We look forward to the day when we can see all of our friends back on the court. In the mean time, stay safe, stay healthy and please reach out to us if you have any questions.
Mark Thomas
President, MBPC