Corey Loyd
New Board Members
The 2026 new year brought changes to the SaddleBrooke Pickleball Association (SPA) Board of Directors (BoD) with two new members, Holly Bukes and Kurt Wallin, joining the Board. Holly stepped in immediately as Board Treasurer and as liaison to the Membership Committee and Picklr liaison, and the always upbeat Kurt has assumed board liaison responsibilities to the Social Committee and Player Development Committee. Welcome both Holly and Kurt as they begin working with current BoD members Ron Flanders, Nancy Maglio, Gary Pelphrey, Peggy Downs, and Bill Gray.
All the members are grateful to the BoD for their work and effort in keeping SPA an organization we can be proud of as members.
Snowbirds Departure Provides Opportunity to Meet and Play with Other Members
It is the time of the year when SPA members remaining in SaddleBrooke find their favorite pickleball partners have departed for cooler climates and vacation adventures. That makes it a great time to meet new members and play with members you have not played with in the past. SPA offers a variety of ways to keep playing at your level and schedule. Consider the new Summer Ladder Experiment, or the Drop-in Single Stacking and Foursome Drop-in if you can round up three playing partners. And once the court reconditioning project is complete, Round Robin and Group Play will return.
Annual SPA Tournament
SPA’s annual Dinking in the Desert tournament, the only SaddleBrooke intra-community pickleball tournament and therefore considered by many as the club championship, was held at the Robson Pickleball Center on April 7, 8, and 9 with over 100 participants competing in women’s, mixed, and men’s doubles. What a fantastic three days! Well-fought matches, great competition, and plenty of fun.
Gold medals were won by the women’s teams of Jen Wilkin/Amy Benson—3.0 Women, Janet Jensen/Susan Schweitzer—3.5 Women, and Diana Giljohann/Kristy Johnson—4.0 Women. In the mixed doubles competition, gold medals were won by Craig Stutzel/Lisa Stutzel—2.5 Mixed, Brian McGeorge/Anne Romeo—3.0 Mixed, Susan and Jay Schweitzer—3.5 Mixed, and Diana Giljohann/Dirk Anderson—4.0 Mixed. And in the Men’s competition, gold medals were won by Lindsey Douglas/Kurt Wallin—3.0 Men, Wendell Olivier/Art Busby—3.5 Men, and Dirk Anderson/Joel Ficke—4.0 Men. Congratulations to our Champions!
Thank–you to all of our members who gave up drop-in courts to support the tournament—and to those who came out to cheer on the competitors. A huge thank–you goes to Peter Canon, Missy Roberts, Cindy McAlbin, and Teresa Lawless for their time running the event.
Revitalization of Robson Pickleball Center Courts Nine to 14 with Court Resurfacing, Freshly Painted Poles, New Nets, and New Fencing
The revitalization of Courts nine to 14 began on June 1 and is scheduled to be completed in 30 days. The contractor’s crews were on-site the first day and the poles have been repainted, new fencing installed and the resurfacing scheduled to start June 15. Barring any delays, SPA will be back to full court use by July 1.