The #1 source for pickleball news in New York's Greater Capital Region. Written by a journalist and pickleball player.
518: Share your pickleball stories, and court news and more.
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#061 Aug. 14, 2025 | Read on the web Share your pickleball storiesPete Lindemann, a pickleball organizer from Cobleskill, reached out to share news about a pickleball party they hosted in their community and to invite people to discover pickleball in Cobleskill. You can read Pete's full recap below in the "News" section. Pickleball518 loves to hear and share stories about your local pickleball happenings. Feel free to send your news and pictures to be included in the newsletter. Send them to cathleen@pickleball518.com. Advanced Injury Prevention and TreatmentDiscover a proven injury prevention program from Dr. Tim Maggs, a sports medicine expert with over 45 years of experience, 300+ published articles, and 8 peer-reviewed studies. Dr. Maggs unique Feet First System focuses on biomechanics—correcting foot asymmetry and hip imbalance with custom orthotics to reduce injury risk. Don’t let pain keep you from the pickleball court. Visitwww.drtimmaggs.com to start your injury prevention journey today. SPONSOR
Civics lesson in East GreenbushThank you to the pickleball players who attended a public forum of the Rensselaer County Legislature last week to express their support for a proposal to build 8 dedicated pickleball courts in East Greenbush behind the county office building. None of us knew that we had to sign up to speak... and that the sign up sheet disappeared promptly when the meeting began. A couple pickleball players thought it was an attendance sheet and had signed it. A group of eloquent and organized neighbors from Brunswick spoke about the tremendous growth in traffic and misery along Route 7. One neighbor said someone died on their front lawn after a traffic accident. It was very compelling and a hard act to follow. The two pickleballers had signed the speaker's sheet spoke briefly and respectfully in favor of the courts. One resident spoke against the courts saying the $4 million price tag for 8 courts was too high. Many legislators, including some who support the courts, agreed that it was very high. The project is not on a committee agenda at the moment, but there is support for it among county leaders and will likely come back. It seems likely that leaders will try to find a way to bring the project back to the legislature. Westerlo courts unveils two pickleball courtsWesterlo resurfaced a tennis court to create two dedicated pickleball courts. You can read more in the Ravena News Herald:
Webinar on how to sign up on PickleballTournaments?I am toying with the idea of having a free Zoom webinar to explain how to register for a tournament on PickleballTournaments, formerly known as Pickleball Brackets. Many local tournament directors are using the software and registering for a first tournament can be frustrating. I'd like to gauge interest for a live video webinar with a demonstration and Q&A. If you would be interested in the webinar, please fill out this form:https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScsTQY4V2JE1LqcWDrDTGUesxeSMlsPp5n-1M4T3BVPAYjuNg/viewform?usp=sharing&ouid=109150931932691387245 Bethlehem Tournament is filling upEarly registrations for the Oct. 4 Bethlehem Pickleball Tournament have been strong. Based on these early birds (thank you for registering early!!), I was able to create some age divisions in mens and women's events. There are still some spots available. I've added a new division: Mixed Doubles Social. This is a great spot for people just looking to have fun or if you are a first-time tournament player and want a low-key avenue to check it out. Several events are full and are waitlist only. I STRONGLY suggest getting on the waitlist (for this tournament or any tournament) for several reasons:
Mixed Doubles
Mens Doubles
Womens Doubles
Register here: https://pickleballtournaments.com/tournaments/1bc6fc14-2868-4577-866b-fba493b6f125 More upcoming tournamentsAug. 22-24: True Tournament Series – Event 1 Sept. 6: The Capital Games Tournament Sept. 13-14: Mohawk Pickleball Club Summer Slam II Tournament at Hillhurst Park in Schenectady to benefit Schenectady City Youth Parks program Sept. 19-21: Pickle-BOL Tournament Sept. 20: Pickleball for the Ages (Raindate Sept. 21) Sept. 26-28: Upstate New York Pickleball Championship Oct. 4: Bethlehem Pickleball Tournament (Rain-date Oct. 5)
Leagues forming at Hockey HutClifton Park Pickleball Club at Hockey Hut will open registration on Saturday for for 5-Week Leagues — August 25 to September 22. Full Schedule
Register here: https://app.courtreserve.com/Online/Memberships/Public/11361 Sportime fall league scheduling will be out on SaturdayIn the meantime, you can join Sportime's regular sessions of...
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Pickleball Galaxy SaleInstead of a tent sale, Pickleball Galaxy is holding a "Blowout Sale" this September. A limited inventory of items will be available for sale in the parking lot outside the store's HQ at 606 Pierce Road, Clifton Park.
Wednesday, Sept. 10, 12 to 7 p.m. End of Summer $8 Open Play at PicklersOpen Play – Just $8 for 2 Hours at Picklers. Play morning, noon, or night—weekday or weekend—whenever Open Play appears on the calendar. Starts tomorrow. Playing pickleball in CobleskillBy Pete Lindemann Twenty players participated in a Pickleball Party Wednesday evening, August 6, at Cobleskill College. Players were randomly matched up into two-person teams. Each player played five games – never with the same teammate. After five games, it was announced by Jo-Anne Mahar, event organizer, that Laurie Schacher and Pete Lindemann each had perfect scores of 55. Next was John Carrozzi with 54 and Bill Li with 52 points. This led to the championship game of Li and Schacher versus Carrozzi and Lindemann. The former team prevailed, 11-5, so the final standings were Schacher 66, Li 63, Lindemann 60, and Carrozzi 59. All four were presented with mini-trophies, topped by a pickleball. The local pickleball group plays at Cobleskill College – four tennis courts with pickleball lines – or at Golding Middle School. If you are interested in playing pickleball in Cobleskill, call or text Pete Lindemann at 518/727-8795 or text – no calls please - Alison Smith at 518/925-7177.
Early birds help tournaments take flightI've mentioned this before, but early bird registrations are a big deal for local tournaments. Running tournaments is hard. It takes a lot of planning and time, and it can turn your hair gray waiting for people to sign up. Those early registrations help create momentum for tournaments and guide tournament directors on which events people want. If nobody registers early for a division, that division might be eliminated. I hear a lot of people tell me they want singles events and events broken down by age. Well, Jen Kendrick from the YMCA is running a big charity tournament called Upstate New York Pickleball Championship at UAlbany. It's a large tournament over multiple days that allows Jen to create many different age/skill brackets - like events for players 70 and up ... singles play ... and divisions for beginners and advanced players. So go back up to the Tournament section above and reward those Tournament Directors with some early, or not-so-early, registrations and keep the fun rolling. Hope to see you on the court, Cathleen
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Pickleball518: Pickleball news from Upstate New York
The #1 source for pickleball news in New York's Greater Capital Region. Written by a journalist and pickleball player.
#060 July 31, 2025 | Read on the web Can a 3.9 player can play in a 3.5 event? The answer is "Yes" in a PickleballTournaments event. I've had a few questions about the skill divisions for the Oct. 4 Bethlehem Pickleball Tournament. Parsing skill divisions is always a struggle especially within the PickleballTournament ecosystem. PickleballTournaments rounds down . So a 3.9 player is considered a 3.5 player, therefore a "Doubles 3.5 and under event" actually means it is for players 3.99999 and...
#059 July 17, 2025 | Read on the web There are outdoor venues with lights Hi friend, my sincere apologies for misstating that the proposed East Greenbush courts would be the only large municipal venue with lights. I have since learned that Saratoga Spring's East Side courts have lights and the Crandall Park courts in Glens Falls have lights. Dang, I really blew that one. I've played at East Side many DAYS but never at night. I had even checked Google Street View prior to publishing and didn't...
#058 July 6, 2024 | Read on the web Rensselaer County considers 8 dedicated pickleball courts with lights The Rensselaer County Legislature will vote next month on a proposed project to build 8 dedicated, outdoor pickleball courts behind the county office building on Route 4 in East Greenbush. The plan calls for the courts to have lights, which would make it the only large outdoor court venue in the region with night-time play. Woot, woot. Also in the plan are permanent bathrooms and vending...