The Southern Nevada Pickleball Club is an affiliated organization of the Amateur Athletic Union of the U.S. Inc., continues to share its love of the sport in southern Nevada, and has begun offering rehabilitative programs specifically developed for Veterans of all Military service branches.
The mission of the non-profit Southern Nevada Pickleball Club “SNPC” is to provide a progressive outdoor or indoor sport opportunity to improve a healthy lifestyle for school age girls and boys, working and retired adults, families, and military veterans. The only requirement for membership is to be a current member of the Amateur Athletic Union of the United States, Inc. (AAU).
The club’s mission is to focus in three areas: enhance and enrich the playing experience for players of all ages and circumstances; build a robust AAU Youth Pickleball program; and work with military veterans thru the VA and other similar programs to share the rehabilitative and adaptive aspects of our sport,” says, John Sloan, Pickleball Club Director.
Volunteers, who are mostly veterans, are being recruited to conduct the free Veterans clinic every Tuesday and Thursday at 8:00 am at the Dula Gym located at 441 E. Bonanza, Las Vegas, NV 89101. This event is sponsored by the City of Las Vegas Parks and Recreation Department and the Southern Nevada Pickleball Club.
The next upcoming Southern Nevada Pickleball Club (SNPC) social event will be held at the Durango Hills Pickleball Courts on Saturday, March 7th. One of the goals of the SNPC is to get players, throughout the valley, to join together and network with one another and have fun while playing competitive Pickleball. This mixed Round Robin Social will utilize a skill level format and will allow tournament players to practice with or without their partners as well as encourage new members to learn the sport.
“Pickleball is an activity that addresses the needs of individuals, like me, with service-related disabilities, says Earl Stitt, Retired Lt. Col. USAF, Retired Captain for USAirways and Southern Nevada Pickleball Club Trustee. “My combat experiences in South Vietnam are a large factor in why I suffer from PTSD – as do many of my fellow veterans. I found that Pickleball provided me with an outlet to improve my recreational, physical and mental health. It has assisted me with an overall healthy lifestyle that is both enjoyable and now attainable.”
A few of the benefits of the Pickleball Sport include:
• Cross between tennis, badminton and ping pong
• Recreational activity that can be played either indoors or outdoors
• Physical game, played in a smaller area, that takes both skill and agility
• Physically it engages players to move back and forth utilizing their legs, arms, wrists – basically the entire body
• Pickleball strengthens muscles and boosts cardiovascular health and contributes to maintaining weight goals by burning calories
• Requires mental agility in strategy and score keeping – it enhances brain function through reflexes and quick thinking
• Social game with protocol
• The sport reduces stress, although a little competitive stress is sometimes felt
• It is an easy way to develop new friendships over a common bond – socialization
For more information and to view our upcoming tournament and events, visit the SNPC website as at: https://www.southernnevadapickleballclub.org/