New Pickleball Staff and Upcoming Pickleball Tournaments
Sundial has exciting pickleball news to announce! We have added two new team members to our pickleball and racquet sports departments. Peter Redpath is our newest certified IPTPA Pickleball Professional and Josh Jeffcott is the new Racquet Sports Program Manager, who is also a certified IPTPA Pro. With their help, Sundial has organized 8 upcoming pickleball tournaments and events now through winter.
Did you know pickleball is the fastest-growing sport in America?
Five years ago, there were about 500,000 active players (known as “picklers”). Today, that number is estimated to be around 2.5 million!
Pickleball is a mix between tennis and ping pong and people love it because it’s mostly like ping pong (playing on top of a ping pong table is a phrase that’s used). It’s very popular in Florida because you can play it year-round. The US Open of Pickleball is played 30 minutes South of Sundial, in Naples, every April with over 2,000 players from all over the world. Our Southwest Florida region is known as the “mecca” of Pickleball.
Sundial Pickleball Camps
Week 1: November 30 – December 2, 2021
Week 2: January 12 – 14, 2022
Our Sundial Pickleball Camps offer expert instruction with 5.0 teaching pros on our award-winning courts for 3 days of play. Activities include instruction on offensive and defensive skills, serving and returning, shot drops and drives, transitioning to the net, favorite drills and game and point play. In addition, the packages include a 3-night stay, daily breakfast and a meet and greet reception on day one.
*An instruction-only package is also available for our local residents who do not need lodging.
Book your pickleball camp package today and level-up your pickleball game!
Other Pickleball Tournaments and Events at Sundial
Engage Pickleball Camp – November 16 – 18, 2021 – Camp sold out but rooms still available
American Pickleball Tournament – December 3 – 5, 2021 – Registration open and rooms still available
The Sanibel Island Pickleball Classic Powered by World Pickleball Tour – January 7 – 9, 2022 – Registration open and rooms still available
Engage Pickleball Camp – January 18 – 20, 2022 – Camp sold out but rooms still available
Callie Smith’s Nike Pickleball Classic – March 8 – 9, 2022 – Registration open and rooms still available
Details Coming soon! Sundial Cinco de Mayo Fiesta Tournament, May 6-8, 2022
View full details on schedule of events, registration and booking.
Court Updates
We have 12 Pickleball courts here at Sundial making us the second largest pickleball facility south of Orlando. Soon, we will be resurfacing all 12 courts and adding some additional fencing as part of our continued efforts to maintain the highest quality play environment. Ian is our court maintenance man here at Sundial and very good at his job!
We have 4 certified Pickleball Pros at Sundial, Racquet Sports Manager Josh Jeffcott, who’s been a Head Pickleball Pro for over four years, Peter Redpath, our newest certified Pickleball Pro, and Brad Thompson and Justin Loescher, who are both teaching pros and have been instrumental in our camp and tournament programming.
Pictured: Brad Thompson, Justin Loescher, Josh Jeffcott, and Ian Bringe (front); not pictured – Peter Redpath
Meet Our New Pros
Josh Jeffcott, Racquet Sports Program Manager – An area native with an impressive resume as both a player and event organizer, Jeffcott played his first tournament at Sundial at age 8 as a top junior tennis player. After a career as a competitive player and USPTA professional, Jeffcott became interested in the fast-growing sport of pickleball and gained IPTPA certification. He spent the next several years as a head pickleball pro, tournament organizer and 5.0 rated sponsored player.
“Josh joins us as an accomplished and energetic professional with a solid history of achievement in racquet sports, and we’re thrilled to welcome him to our Sundial team,” said Becky Miller, General Manager. “Our active tennis and pickleball programs are a popular resort guest activity but our courts and programming are also open to the public. We look forward to growing our award-winning facilities and programs under Josh’s direction.”
Peter Redpath, certified IPTPA Pickleball Professional –
Redpath joins the resort as a certified IPTPA Pickleball Professional providing instruction to resort guests, island visitors and the local community. Prior to discovering pickleball, Redpath played competitive tennis and platform tennis and was a national titleholder.
“Pickleball is a very social and enjoyable racquet sport”, states Redpath. “Everyone can participate and enjoy play at any level. Just pick up a paddle and have fun!”
We can’t wait to see you all on the courts this fall and winter!
