Repairs to the Gateway Pickleball Court are scheduled to start on Monday, April 22. We expect this project to be completed within three days, weather permitting. The court will be closed to the public for the duration of the project. Signs will be posted on-site to notify the public of the court closure. Please feel free to contact me with any questions or concerns.
Steve Boswell
Capital Improvements
Project Manager
Office: 410-381-0544
Fax: 410-312-6327
Email: steve.boswell@
Revision to Website - The Communications Committee has reorganized the website in regard to the Instruction section. It is now called Player Development and under this heading can be found a few various pages. One is a new entry labeled Tip of the Month offering monthly articles on different techniques to improve your game.
Couple Upcoming Events:
Introduction to Pickleball - North Laurel 50+ Center on April 18th at 10:30 am. Register for an introductory pickleball course led by Howard Co. Pickleball Assoc.; includes demos and court time to practice your new skills. Cost: $19. To register: https://anc.apm.activecommunities.com/howardcounty/activity/search/detail/135724?onlineSiteId=0&from_original_cui=true
Howard County Family Pickleball Fun Day - Saturday, May 11, from 1 pm to 4 pm at Dill Dinkers Pickleball in Columbia MD. Learn to play pickleball with your local Howard County Terps. Kids are welcome! Pizza and refreshments will be provided. Contact Dill Dinkers for more information: 410-593-8440
April Women's League - HCPA is excited to announce a Women’s league starting on April 16th.
The league will start on 4/16 and run for 6 weeks until 5/21. It will include 5 weeks of play and a final week of playoffs. Play will be from 5:30-7:30 PM on TUESDAY evenings at Oakland Mills HS
There will be a max of 16 teams/32 people. Subs will be allowed of similar skills. Individual sign-ups will be allowed. If you have a partner, you can identify them during the signup. All matches will be recorded in DUPR. (Suggested DUPR of 3.25-3.75.)
The cost will be $25 per person. Please identify your DUPR and your partner in the notes when you purchase a ticket or if you need a partner if you are an individual player.
Please complete the Google form if you can’t commit and would like to be considered as a substitute player
(https://forms.gle/nYdSuWHT3zxDAYfY6).
League rules will be shared after signup opens on Tuesday, 4/2.
Registration will close at midnight on 4/13.
Please email Troy Osten with questions at tdosten@gmail.com
Opening Weekend - HCPA Members, spring is finally here and the Association and our Wonderful Volunteers will be
hosting “Opening Weekend” on April 13th and 14 th . Session Coordinators can purchase some
snacks or drinks for the session. In the past many of the players attending these sessions bring a
snack or drink to share. If you intend to participate, please ask your session coordinator prior to
the date if they need any assistance or tables to place the refreshments on. Come help us celebrate
the nicer weather and our favorite sport!
Come to the courts on April 13 th or 14 th and celebrate with us.
We all just want to play!
I hope that this request finds everyone healthy and happy. Our Association is comprised of
many individuals with one common interest: to play Pickleball.
The Association posts times when we have scheduled organized play. The Session Coordinators
carry nets and balls to the courts. They may do this several times a week. It is a commitment
that we all can appreciate.
On some occasions, and recently more often because the sport is popular, there are small
groups who are playing on one of the courts we are using to play or teach. We cannot reserve
the courts. The courts are public, and we understand that fact. But many times, the players
using the one court are HCPA members. The HCPA member sees the class or session coming,
but they do not join the group nor do they yield the court for the larger group. This impacts
many people.
When Pickleball lines were first painted on tennis courts in Columbia, a crowd of Pickleball
players would come to a court, only to find two tennis players sitting on a court. It was
infuriating since there were so many other close-by tennis courts and only these few pickleball
courts.
There are many new courts in the area. The Association is limited to the courts we are allowed
to use for open play. As stated, we do not own these courts and folks have a perfectly legal
right to use them. But we would kindly ask members to please check the schedule online and if
you see a conflict, please use one of the other available courts. Non-association play is allowed
on all Howard County Recreation and Park courts, as well as Gateway and many of the high
schools (see Places to Play on our website). It is easier to move one small group than all the
members in our planned session. We can only ask that you please be considerate.
Thank you for your time and attention to this matter.
HCPA Newsletter - Be sure to check out our new spring newsletter found in both our website (under Assoc. News) and the mobile app (Under Newsletters). Thanks again to Carol White who is our Chief Editor. Here's the link to the newsletter:
New offerings from Columbia Association - the following announcement was sent out to CA members. Looks like CA is embracing pickleball.
Wanna play pickleball?
The weather is warming up and we're moving outdoors for pickleball! We've got group clinics, leagues for all levels, and open play lined up for you...
Here's what's in store:
Pickleball Leagues: Beginner, Intermediate, and "Hybrid" leagues are offered at various times of day and days of the week.
Pickleball Clinics: Up your game with clinics, which combine instruction and drills for players looking to get better quickly!
Open Play: Open play at Owen Brown will start up on Saturday, April 6 and run from 10 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. Open play is also available at Supreme Sports Club.
Call Long Reach Tennis Club at 410-423-4120 to learn more or sign up for leagues and clinics… and get ready to have some fun!
You can also join the "unofficial" Columbia Area Facebook Pickleball Group to get early updates on lessons, open play, leagues, and other offerings around the Columbia area.
Light it Up!!
Matt Blevins
CA Pickleball Coach
Long Reach Tennis Club
6180 Old Dobbin Ln, Columbia, MD 21045
410-423-4120
Bringing back evening and novice sessions - With the time change and the weather starting to get nicer, our evening sessions and novice sessions are coming back into play. Be sure to check out our revised schedule both in the mobile app as well as on the website.
Registration for Active Aging Pickleball is now open - Howard Co. Recreation & Parks Active Aging Pickleball Program opened their registration for their various pickleball offerings as of 6 pm last night. Active Aging Sports is offering 44 spring and summer pickleball programs. They anticipate they will fill up fast. The link below will take you to the HCR&P site for you to review their offerings if you are interested.
Resuming evening sessions - As we draw closer to the end of winter folks are wondering when we will be offering evening sessions again. That depends on three factors: 1) The return of daylight savings and more light in the evening, 2) the weather and 3) when the session coordinators are ready to resume their sessions. It's likely to be either later March or early April. Stay tuned, the sessions will be posted to both the mobile app's schedule and the website's organized play page.