In keeping with the Governor’s current mandate, mask wearing is required during organized outdoor sporting activities. Therefore, attendees are expected to wear masks at any BPC-sponsored session.
NOTE:
Most courts have special requirements that must be followed. Please be supportive by adhering to these modified protocols during this time period. Thank you.
NOTE: If you’d like to join a list of players sharing contact information to make pickleball connections, visit https://
LOCAL COURT OPTIONS AND GUIDELINES
INDOOR VENUES AS OF MID-FEBRUARY:
Please check specific venue details, mask requirements, and updates!
Birch Bay Activity Center; Court reservations available by phone for up to 6 players per court; There are two courts. 360-656-6416. $3 pp. Players from mixed households are OK, but play within a pickleball bubble is encouraged. (Three outdoor courts also available by reservation.)
Bellingham Athletic Club; Members can reserve a spot in the gym for pickleball. (360) 676-1800 memberservices@bellinghamathleticclub.com
Bellingham YMCA; One court available by a 60-minute reservation for up to 4 people, Mon-Sat. No charge for Y members, and non-members can purchase a day pass. https://www.whatcomymca.org/pickleball-basketball-reservations ; 360-733-8630
You can use this form if you want to be matched with a pickleball partner for play at the YMCA.
Semiahmoo Resort; Spa club members and hotel guests can reserve an indoor court up to two weeks in advance. Each spa member can reserve one court for up to 6 players for a two-hour period. There are four indoor courts.
BELLINGHAM PARK COURT GUIDELINES
All guidelines were set in collaboration between BPC & Bellingham Parks and Rec Dep’t.
*NOTE ALL:
- Plan to meet up to gather and play in a small group of 2-5 people.
- There is no large drop-in, congregating, or group play allowed at courts.
- Maintain a 6-foot distance with non-household members and/or wear a mask.
Mask wearing is encouraged. - Once others are waiting for a court, play is limited to 1-hour max.
Please be considerate.
When waiting for a Cornwall dedicated court, use the “Next-Up Paddle Queue”. - Minimize passage through occupied courts.
Check that it is ok to pass AND keep distance from others. - Singles (including “skinny singles”) and doubles have equal court priority.
Skinny Singles: https://youtu.be/NFMLlzQt2TY
Regular Singles: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x1ZL9tdP87k - Players may bring a net to set up on “multi-use” courts.
- Stagger sessions from dawn to dusk to minimize wait times & congestion.
- Please assess your own health, safety, & risk factors, and take care of yourself.
- All relevant local and state guidelines apply.
BELLINGHAM PARK COURTS
Fairhaven Park has lines for use with tennis nets, and/or for two portable nets.
Padden & Elizabeth Parks have tennis courts with painted lines to use tennis nets.
Birchwood Park on Cedarwood has a basketball court with lines for two portable nets.
Cornwall Park Tennis/ Pickleball “Multi-use” Courts::
There are two tennis courts which are striped for 4 pickleball courts with portable nets, or 2 courts using the tennis nets.
Open for play with above guidelines.
NOTE: A limited number of nets are available for borrowing by BPC members for several weeks at a time.
CORNWALL DEDICATED PICKLEBALL COURTS: 6 dedicated pball courts are open for play, with above guidelines.
COVERED PLAYSHEDS
A number of outdoor covered school “playsheds” are available for use during after-school hours.
These Playsheds have been measured and marked by BPC volunteers for one or more courts.
You will need a portable net, and sometimes chalk is helpful as well.
PARKS OUTSIDE OF BELLINGHAM
LYNDEN CITY PARK has a pickleball court with permanent net and has remained open.
BENDER FIELD in Lynden now has 4 dedicated pickleball courts.
HILLCREST PARK in Mt Vernon has three dedicated courts open (of six total). Players must come in groups of 2-5 and play with that group. There is no group or drop-in play. If players are waiting, play 2 games and rotate off courts. Use safe distancing with other groups.
Note: If you make the personal choice to play pickleball during this time, we highly recommend that you use excellent hygiene measures & physical distancing to minimize the potential spread from person to person. And of course, cover sneezes & coughs with your arm, avoid physical contact, and don’t come if you feel sick at all, have recently tested positive, or have been around people who have been sick or tested positive. During this time it is safer to play in small closed groups with agreed upon hygiene practices than in an open group. If you are in a high-risk health category, we recommend that you not play in open groups.
Mission Statement
BPC promotes the development of pickleball skills, facilities and community in the greater Bellingham area.
BPC Membership Supports:
- Expansion and improvement of local pickleball facilities.
- Welcoming environment for players of all levels.
- Vibrant pickleball community.
- Opportunities to connect with players of your level.
- Enhanced communication, including BPC website.
- Links to places to play, local classes and clinics, rules and organizations, and discounts.
- And much, much more…
Contact Us
Questions about the club, or anything else?
Visit “Bellingham WA Pickleball”, a local group of pickleball players on facebook. Provides general information but not specifically BPC.
News and Updates
(These updates plus local indoor venue info in recent email.)
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BELLINGHAM PARK DEPT and CORNWALL PARK
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1) GOOD NEWS. A productive meeting with the Bellingham Parks Department last week resulted in the middle courts at Cornwall now being open. Thank you to David May and crew for quick court cleaning so they are playable and safer. And thanks to the Parks department for granting this request, and so quickly collaborating on new signs and procedures, plus re-installing the permanent nets.
We are generally keeping the same COVID protocols.
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2) EXPRESSING THANKS AND APPRECIATION to the Park Department would be helpful. You can email them at parks@cob.org or call at 360-778-7000. They are very overworked and understaffed due to more people using parks and greatly increased cleaning demands. Knowing that their efforts are recognized by the pickleball community will help build positive momentum for the future.
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3) WAITING PROCEDURES FOR CORNWALL DEDICATED COURT needed to change with the opening of the middle courts, to make it easier to keep track of the order of groups waiting.
Other existing protocols are still in place, but we have added a “NEXT-UP Queue” for the dedicated courts. To minimize gathering due to COVID issues, only ONE paddle gets placed in the queue for each waiting group. Mask wearing is especially encouraged while waiting.
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*NEW*: “NEXT-UP PADDLE QUEUE” FOR DEDICATED COURTS (with COVID guidelines)
Keep 6-foot distance. Minimize gathering. Mask wearing encouraged.
- The multi-purpose courts don’t participate in this queue, so waiting for those courts is done separately.
- First waiting group places ONE paddle on the left side of the fence by the new paddle queue sign.
- Subsequent waiting groups add ONE paddle, in order from left to right.
-When a court becomes available, the “Next-Up” group proceeds to the court.
-That group plays on their court as we have done during COVID (rather than rotating on and off).
- Once players are waiting, play is limited to one-hour max. Please be considerate.
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We will likely need to revise these procedures as the weather improves and snowbirds return. We plan to use this system for at least March and adjust as relevant. If you want to help us brainstorm court management and waiting protocols, let us know. Your feedback, questions, & support are welcome.
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REMINDERS OF EXISTING PROTOCOLS ARE BELOW, (adopted in collaboration with the Bellingham Parks & Rec Department).
- Plan to gather and play in a group of 2-5 people.
- No large drop-in, congregating, or group play allowed at courts.
- Maintain a 6-foot distance with non-household members and/or wear a mask.
- Mask wearing is encouraged, especially while on the sidelines or waiting.
- Minimize passage through occupied courts.
- Check that it is okay to pass AND keep distance from others.
- Once others are waiting for a court, play is limited to 1-hour max.
See Cornwall “Next-Up Queue” description
- Players may bring a net to set up on “multi-use” courts. and is not related to the dedicated court Wait-Queue.
- Stagger sessions from dawn to dusk to minimize wait times; congestion.
- Singles (including “skinny singles”) and doubles have equal court priority.
- Please assess your own health, safety, & risk factors, and take care of yourself.
- All relevant local and state guidelines apply.
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CLUB NEWS
Since Mark Livingston has stepped down from the BPC board to focus on his Coach Mark LLC business, we are seeking a new board member to fill out the term.
Please send us your nominations to fill this board at-large position (yourself or other).
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We welcome your interest if you’d like to help us plan for upcoming BPC skill-development resources and sessions. We will need to work within the constraints of limited courts and COVID issues, but let’s make the best of what we have.
Volunteer efforts are what make everything happen.
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Thank you for your support!
Please let us know if you have questions or input.
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Thank you.
Bellingham Pickleball Club Board
bellinghampickle@gmail.com
www.bellinghampickleball.org
#bellinghampickleball
Local Venues • Bellingham Pickleball Club
bellinghampickleball.org
COVID Court Options and Guidelines Calendar of BPC Hosted Events Info About BPC Hosted Events NEW BPC-Hosted Sessions: February 29th – April 3rd @ School Gyms For liability reasons, you must be or become a BPC member to participate at school gyms. (bellinghampickleball.org/membership/) Sat...
Some are using the outdoor covered playsheds (see list below) during after-school hours. These Playsheds have been measured and marked by BPC volunteers for one or more courts. Your group needs a portable net; chalk may be useful.
Others have set up groups in Spond (see below) or text groups to pre-arrange small groups. If you want help using Spond, let us know.
Three skill-development groups continue to play. The Beginner and Novice groups both meet Thursday mornings, while Intermediate 3.0 – 3.5 group meets Friday afternoon. Let us know if you want to If you are interested in connecting and/or supporting this, pleabe invited. Be sure to tell us which group or let us know if you have questions.
A few newbies and novices are interested in finding others to play and learn with on weekends or evenings. If you are interested in connecting and/or supporting this, please let us know.
Indoor Play
Some local venues have opened up indoor pickleball. Please check specific venue details & mask requirements.
*Birch Bay Activity Center, a household of up to 6 people can rent the gym by calling (360) 656-6416. Outdoor courts are also available for reservation.
*Bellingham Athletic Club members can reserve sessions.
*YMCA members can reserve one court for singles.
*Bellingham Fitness is still constructing their 3 indoor courts.
*A venue in Ferndale is considering offering pickleball starting in March. You will be getting an email with a link to a survey to help in their planning. Even if you don’t think you would utilize their gym, it would help them hear your thoughts.
Future Skill-Development Session Planning
We are working on plans for expanding skill-development offerings. Maggi Kriger, Barbara Goebel, Carol Lo and Mark Livingston surveyed summer and fall participants. As we evaluate our previous offerings, we are beginning to plan for next year and the future. We welcome suggestions and expressions of interest from all levels to help out with planning and/or implementation!
FYI, see the link below for the current BPC Skill-Level Rating Scale .
Ch, ch, ch, CHANGES Pickleball Rules CHANGE
On January 25 new rules will be enforced at tournaments! When you play recreationally, you should make sure you are in agreement about whether you are using the new rules.
The big changes are:
* You can now drop the ball on your serve OR use the regular serve. See video link below for explanation.
* A service let (touching the net but still going into the service space) is now playable rather than a re-do.
* You must see the space between the court boundary line and the ball to call a ball out – so close calls are in.
* You may start serving as soon as you begin calling the score, rather than having to wait until the score is totally called.
See link below to the USAPA webpage with the “Official 2021 Rule Book”, the “Alternate 2021 Rule Book” (which simplifies how the rules are presented for non-tournament purposes), and the “2021 Rules Revision Change Document”.
If you want to know all the details including the whys of all the rule changes, here is an excellent (but very lengthy) video.
Bellingham Park Department and BPC
We are meeting with the Bellingham Parks & Recreation Department on February 8th to continue discussions about expanding courts for the growing interest in pickleball, including asking again if we can use the middle courts at Cornwall and other issues. They continue to be overloaded with tasks related to COVID, so everything is moving a bit slower than usual.
Club News
We haven’t held Club Development Meetings but there are still good things happening, including that BPC contributed a brick to the Pickleball museum at the original court on Bainbridge Island where pickleball began. We currently have 236 members which is remarkable given COVID restrictions.
Mark Livingston resigned from the BPC board to focus on his Coach Mark LLC business. **Please send us your nominations to fill his at-large position (yourself or other).
Please let us know if you have interest or thoughts about any of these or other topics. This is your club and we want to hear from you.
www.bellinghampickleball.org
Links:
Playsheds
docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1O0peXakMUrp3J6W7r3KY6nozT6CCeMEzh5JMfgRDCI4/edit#gid=0
Spond
spond.com/welcome
BPC Self Rating Skill Level Assessment
bellinghampickleball.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/06/BPC-SelfRatingSkillLevelSelf-Assessment-US...
Drop Serve Explanation
www.youtube.com/watch?v=r01BXi-WoAQ&feature=youtu.be
USA Pickleball Official Rulebook
usapickleball.org/what-is-pickleball/ifp-official-rules/https://www.youtube.com/watch?fbclid=IwAR...
New Rules (lengthy) video
www.youtube.com/watch?fbclid=IwAR34EwCUpRdav3RXWcigQZ2yub5HvBj4J5IxArEkg9vSor28jnbPD_9S6xI&v=IeVZ...
#bellinghampickleball