Capital Area Pickleball Association
Serving Dane County Wisconsin

IS IT SPRING OR WINTER??  

THE DATE SAYS WINTER BUT THE TEMPERATURES ARE SPRING LIKE! 

ENJOY THE EARLY OUTDOOR SEASON! 

Check out the CAPA Blog for outdoor court updates.

Here is some information CAPA wants to share before the next newsletter.

CAPA VOLUNTEERS

CAPA board is in the process of contacting members that are interested in volunteering. There is a brief description of volunteer opportunities on the CAPA website under the Members tab. If you have not received an email and would like to volunteer, please contact Jill Jorstad at jill.jorstad@gmail.com

Fun Pickleball Facts

1. In every hour of tennis, the ball is in play just 11-12 minutes! It may sound crazy, but this is an accurate statistic. How about pickleball? In every hour of pickleball, the ball is in play much longer... a total of 26-28 minutes.
2. The first permanent court for pickleball was built in 1967. 
3. There are more than 36.5 million players playing pickleball in the United States according to data released in January of 2023 by the Association of Pickleball Professionals.
4. There are 10,724 known places to play pickleball in the USA as of early 2023, showing an increase of nearly 17% compared to last year. ...
5. The number of pickleball courts reached 44,094 in 2022, showing a year-on-year growth of 15.6%.

Have you looked at the CAPA Website lately? 

CAPA member Abigail Darwin is posting blogs with great pickleball tips and information! 

Stay current with upcoming events that are also posted on the website.  

Are you looking to replace all the broken pickleball balls you have to prepare for the outdoor season? Remember the Franklin X- 40X pickleballs are available for 20% below their wholesale price and less than half of their retail price to CAPA members.  Look for the list of members who are resellers on the CAPA website. 

A "FUNNY THING" HAPPENED

Joe Carter, a founding member of CAPA sent this email after the January newsletter was published.  

A funny thing happened on the way to completing next year’s court schedule at our Resort in Gold Canyon, AZ. The CAPA newsletter had just arrived which I read enthusiastically.

The “funny thing” was how the graphical charts of CAPA Club member Skill Level Trends prompted me to suggest that we here at our Club in AZ adopt “High Intermediate” to supplant our “Advanced Intermediate” category.

My CAPA suggestion was quickly edited into next season’s proposed schedule, and adopted and approved by our board. Thank you, CAPA!

Here in our Resort we have about 250 Club members, 9 courts and soon adding 4 more as the Resort repurposes underutilized tennis courts.  Jan & I both play most every day.

As a side note, Jan and I continue to lead our “Play & Learn” clinics weekly at our Resort. We rotate our programs between Practice Drills made up of 6 different skill drills, and also Round Robins. We focus on Intermediate players with 20-24 participating each week. Reminds us of how we used to run CAPA leagues at Garner Park way back when.

Soon we are adding a Novice Round Robin as part of our efforts to recognize Novice as a separate and respectable level of play.

And, I refereed a tournament in Mesa in November just to see if I could still do it. I forgot how much work it is to referee, but it’s an enticing challenge nonetheless.

DINK, DONATE AND SHENANIGANS

PICKLEBALL PLAY, SOCIAL AND FUNDRAISER for Sun Prairie Emergency Food Pantry

• Stacy Weiner will be organizing the last pickleball social and Fundraiser for this indoor season.
• Wed. March 13th at Prairie Athletic Club, Sun Prairie
• Celebrate St. Patrick's Day by wearing Green, Gold or your favorite holiday costume.  Best dressed award announced at 12:30 at the social
• group picture at 10 a.m.
• Open Play from10am - Noon
• Social at noon in the Lost Court
• Pac members free, punch card accepted, regular guest fees apply.
• on- line donation for the Sun Prairie Emergency Food Pantry can be made at https://sunshine.app.neoncrm.com/forms/16 . Donations can be made in memory of or in honor of someone.
• Cash donations and grocery bags will be accepted at the social in the Lost Court.
• Thank you!

SAVE THE DATES

**Fun Prairie Pickleball Open, June 7-9, Wyndham Hills, Sun Prairie.  Registration opens April 4th and Closes May 27th.  For more information, please go to https://rec.cityofsunprairie.com/.  

**Madtown Pickleball Open, July 11-14, Wyndham Hills, Sun Prairie.  Organized by the Madison Area Sports Commission.  For more information contact Brandon Holstein at  holstein@madisonsports.org. Registration will open April 1.  https://pickleballden.com/ will again be the site for registration and tournament information. 

Time to start wearing eye protection!

A recent article in Forbes magazine was brought to our attention by a CAPA member who is an eye doctor.  Please take the time to read it for your safety.