Pickleball Tournament and Much More

I wanted to update everyone on where we are at with the December tournament set for December 13-15 and some other club news.  First the history behind the tournament.

  1. Last year we started the process to have an outside charity tournament here in Grand and to partner with Dave Weinbach(one of the top male pickleball Pro’s) to bring in more of the top men’s and women Pro’s.  We worked very closely with CAM management throughout the whole process that included having the club vote on having the event, filling out the proper documents and more.  Everything was done according to the current Charter Club policies and procedures.  Recently the Grand Board of Directors asked that we come in front of them and present what our plans were for the tournament.  This was something that has recently been added to the Charter Club policies.  The BOD wanted a clear understanding of what we have planned and to be able to vote for its approval.  Today, Linda Hoggatt and myself presented our plans to the BOD and received a unanimous 7-0 vote.  Thanks goes out to the 20 club members who showed up to support the club.
  2. Here is where we stand today
    • To date, we have 548 players signed up. Quite a few brackets are full and we are almost at the max number of players that the tournament can handle.
    • We have collected almost $50K in registration, sponsor, and vendor fees as of today. We have quite a bit more money still owed to us for the 3 areas listed above.
    • Projected cost of running the tournament is between $40-45K
    • The Charities that we are supporting are, A Soldiers Best Friend, Feed AZ, Chance Shelter, Nadaberg Elementary School, and our local fire stations.
    • Parking – During the tournament, only golf carts will be allowed to park at the courts. We will be using Grace churches back parking lot all 3 days. We have partnered up with To My Surprise Shuttle to provide shuttle service every 5 minutes
    • Sponsors – We currently have 20 sponsors that includes 18 court sponsors – We have more sponsor proposals still outstanding.
    • Vendors – We have 15 of 18 spaces sold and will be having a wide range of services and goods available.
    • Food – There will be 2 food trucks on site each day with menus to be posted each day. The Food Trucks are donating 10% of the daily sales to our charities.
    • Restrooms – There will be a luxury trailer portable bathroom located by court 19
    • Volunteers – I will be sending out an email shortly asking for help in all of the areas needed.
    • Host Families – we are still looking for people to host our out of town players. Please send me an email, if you have space available.
    • Much, much more tournament info to follow
  3. Cathy Hennefer has resigned from the pickleball board as our secretary. Cathy was a great help in the time that she was on the board and will be missed. The board met to come up with a replacement for her and I am happy to announce that Julie Seaverson has agreed to fill the secretary’s position through the end of the year.
  4. One of our charities is Nadaburg Elementary school and they want to start teaching pickleball this fall. We will be providing the school with portable nets, balls and paddles. We are asking club members to donate old or unused paddles during each of our membership meetings through December. If you have any lying around, please bring them in and we will put them to good use.

Please let me know if there are any questions or concerns.

Thanks
Troy