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☀️ Hot Pickleball Summer: New Leagues, New Courts, and more

Check out our APP NYC Open tournament recap, and find other upcoming local events!

In This Issue…
☀️ New Season, New Leagues
🙌 Public Court Updates
🏀 APP NYC Tournament Recap
👀 Upcoming Events

It’s been a while. There’s a lot to catch up on!

Forward this to your favorite NYC pickleballers to keep them in the loop!

Summer League Season is Here

In case you missed our Slack posts and Instagram stories, registration for summer leagues is now open!

Coed Individual Ladder Leagues

We’re also excited to announce the Road to 4.0 Intensive with coach Brian Ross. The Road to 4.0 Intensive is designed to help players at the 3.75 level learn what skills and strategies it takes to get to the 4.0 level. You’ll meet like minded players on the same path, so you can develop and grow together. Join us on Thursday evenings from 6-8 PM at Stuy Dome (312 Kosciuszko St, Brooklyn, NY 11221).

If you have any questions about the league registration or verification process, please email [email protected].

NEW Tournament Training League, Presented by Spartus

In this brand new 5-week league at SPORTIME Randall’s Island, you and your partner play a weekly round robin against four other teams. The league will end in a double elimination tournament where every team has a chance to compete for over $1000 in cash and prizes from our sponsor, Spartus. We will offer Men’s, Women’s, and Mixed Doubles formats, depending on player demand.

When: Thursdays 6:30 PM - 9:00 PM, starting June 27th
Where: Sportime Randall’s Island
Transit: Shuttle bus will be provided from 96th and Lexington, Manhattan. We can also help to coordinate ride share.
Who: We are looking to fill one 15 team league for Men’s Doubles 4.0-4.5+ 3.75+, or Mixed Doubles 4.0+. Depending on demand we can also add a Tuesday night time session. Find a partner and submit the pre-registration!, Women’s Doubles

New Public Courts and Court Repairs

4 new pickleball courts planned for St. Catherine’s Park

According to this article, St Catherine’s Park is slated to receive a $9 million overhaul that will include 4 new pickleball courts in the multi-purpose play area (MPPA)!

The reconstruction process is estimated to take a full year, and a start date in the summer of 2025 is the “best case scenario,” said Crowley. However, with the bidding and procurement process, it is more likely to begin near the end of 2025, or the spring of 2026.

The Parks Department has also been hard at work improving courts that were in need of some love. The courts at both JJ Walker Playground and Carl Schurz Park have had line and surface touch-ups in the past few weeks. Big thank you to all the USAP Ambassadors, community board members, and other people working tirelessly behind the scenes to get these new courts created, and old courts repaired.

JJ Walker courts repainted! Photo cred: Joel

APP NYC Open Recap

Memorial Day weekend was a beautiful weekend for the third annual APP NYC Open that took place at the hallowed grounds of the US Open, at the Billie Jean King Tennis Center. Some of our highlights from the week included:

  • Hosting pro player Bobbi Oshiro during her NYC stay, where she took Bronze in women’s singles, and Gold in mixed doubles.

  • Playing and learning with pros Ben Newell and Yana Newell at Life Time Sky, then watching them medal in their events!

  • Seeing Kim Clijsters’ pro pickleball debut 🙌

  • Cheering for local pro teams that made deep runs in Men’s Pro Doubles: Jason Lui & Riley Inn (22nd), Erik Forsythe & Eduardo Irizarry (18th) Len Yang & Rob Laidlaw (13th place) and Andrew Yaraghi & Bruno Faletto (5th place)

  • Watching local pro Kelsey Grambeau and her partner Amanda Hendry play on Championship Court against Simone Jardim and Allison Harris in the Women’s Doubles semi-final match. (Watch here!)

Thank you to everyone who came to watch us play throughout the day!

Last but not least, it was incredible to see so much NYC representation at all levels in the amateur events this year. Congratulations to the many local and regional players who secured Gold medals and are invited to compete at Nationals!! If we missed anyone below, please let us know. Several local teams also took home silver and bronze medals, but then this newsletter would be way too long 🙃 Congrats again to everyone who competed. Full tournament results can be found here.

Local Gold Medalists 🥇

  • James Monohan and Ludovit Gondkovsky in Men’s 3.5 30+

  • David Zuckerman and Chase Bouchard in Men’s 4.0 19+

  • Vishal Talreja and Parash Advani in Men’s 4.5 40+

  • Peter Mao and Eric Ho in Men’s 4.5 19+

  • Cliff Chen and Sebastien Banzet in Men’s 4.5 30+

  • Eric Alvarado and Sean Hannon in Men’s 5.0 50+

  • Rob Gruber and Justin Delntinis in Men’s 5.0 19+

  • Sam Musovic in Men’s Singles 3.0 60+

  • Vlad Ryzhko in Men’s Singles 3.5 55+

  • Hudson Kaylie in Men’s Singles 4.0 19+

  • Alex Rothstein in Men’s Singles 4.5 30+

  • Nancy Del Monte and Robin Frankel in Women’s 3.5 55+

  • Shona Kerr and Debbie Drum in Women’s 4.5/5.0 40+

  • Kayla Teape and Lauren Santo in Women’s 4.5 19+

  • Bree Meertins in Women’s Singles 3.0 19+

  • Vanessa Phan and Austin Bricker in Mixed 5.0 19+