Keeping members happy and engaged is the goal of every pickleball club, and Grass Valley Pickleball Club in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada, in California, is no different. When GVPC President Mary DeLeon and her husband joined the club in 2018, they didn’t know anything about ratings, saying everyone essentially started playing pickleball at the same time and was at the same level and it was fun.
“Then some people started to play more and get better and wanted more of a challenge,” Mary says. “It became a little tough to navigate and keep people happy. And that is the main goal for our club, to keep people playing and having fun.”
The club first tried self-seeding for leveled and open play. That proved a bit problematic as a whole, with players misranking themselves and disrupting the level of play for all. They also experimented with a national ranking system, which didn’t work well for their community.
“A member mentioned a system used at his previous club that sounded like it would work for us with some customizations,” Mary says. And the club’s challenge system was born.
In place of a number rating, the club now has four player levels: recreational, intermediate, intermediate advanced and advanced.
The club’s newly formed Level Play Committee used standards for the rankings based on USA Pickleball’s defined skill sets. They then selected nine players from each group level to be the benchmark players.
“Our committee ranked these players as middle of their skill group; they aren’t at the top of the ranking nor the bottom,” Mary says. “They are good, solid and consistent players who can help members determine their ranking.” When playing in a challenge game, the benchmarkers are instructed to play solid yet not to “cover” for the other player. And while they can expose a player’s weakness, they are not to shine a spotlight on it repeatedly. The benchmark teams also must contain at least one player of the opposite sex.
The overarching concept of a challenge match is quite simple and familiar. Players wishing to move up a level email the committee, which will randomly assign benchmark players. The challenger and three benchmark players play three regulation games to 11, win by 1 and the challenger’s team needs to score 24 or more to move up a level.
“We understand people have off days, and players can try again in four weeks, then again in six or eight if they didn’t attain the new level,” says Mary. “What makes it inviting for all is that this scoring system is proprietary to us; it won’t affect a national rating at all if a player loses. And players who move up continue to gain new skills that can translate to a better ranking if they choose to pursue that.”
Mary says members have been incredibly receptive of the system and she is looking forward to seeing it fully implemented on the courts.
“Players will receive a paddle band that designates their level. This simple system will make it easier and more inviting for members to go find their people and have fun! It will also make it more comfortable for players to stop by a drop-in time or show up solo during open play, as they’ll know which court they will feel most comfortable playing on and maybe even make some new friends.”
Mary says it is thanks to their players and the club community that they can institute this model. “Our members enjoy playing in the area and want the sport to continue growing, so much so that they put their own time and money into making it happen.”
Club volunteers recently completed a renovation of three dilapidated tennis courts that had gone unused for nearly a decade into 10 courts open to the general public.
“We approached the park and offered to fix them in exchange for court time every day from 8:00 AM to 12:00 PM every day for the next five years, and they agreed,” Mary says.
A core group of 20 members cleaned and patched the courts, and they hired a professional to coat, paint, and stripe, restoring them to a beautifully playable space.
“We are so happy we took a leap and made our proposal to the park. They are happy to have an eyesore removed and we are ecstatic about designated court time. It’s a true win-win.”
While GVPC may have implemented the ranking system and grassroots court proposal, these winning strategies can easily be transferred to any facility looking for a new way to ensure competitive play or think outside the box to gain more court space.
