BCPA Archive of Activities
The History of Burke Centre Pickleball Association (BCPA)
Spring of 2017 - Several Burke Centre residents started a conversation on Next Door Neighbor sharing their interest in Pickleball. Some had played while on vacation in Florida or Arizona or friends had encouraged them to try this fast-growing sport. Burke Centre Trustees received several inquiries about use of tennis courts for pickleball but tabled the idea as it was not clear there was enough interest.
Patti Stevens and Pat Trate, residents of the Oaks, started playing Pickleball when they visited Ocean Pines MD and wanted to play with their neighbors in Burke. Seeing the interest expressed on NextDoor, they decided to order a portable net and mark temporary lines with chalk on an underused basketball court near the Oaks Pool.
They posted an invitation for people to come out and try it out on June 21, 2017. Eight people showed up the first week and participation grew rapidly over the summer. A proposal was presented to Burke Centre Trustees at their July meeting requested that they mark several tennis courts for dual use.
In August 2017 Burke Centre agreed to mark two courts at the Landings as a pilot and to track the utilization. Community volunteers set up a website and sign up genius for three weekly sessions and by Fall more than 65 people were playing regularly. On November 11, the new courts were dedicated by Burke Centre Landings Trustee John Mills-Hearn and clinics were offered for new players by USAPA Ambassadors Helen White and Ron Tugwell and their spouses. Play continued through the winter , including on New Years Day, and after snow in February 2018, with players shoveling the courts to enjoy a few rounds of play.
In August of 2018, the pilot was approved, and Burke Centre agreed to line two more courts at the Woods. Burke Centre residents organized and submitted a request to become chartered under Burke Centre. On December 13, 2018, the first meeting of the Burke Centre Pickleball Association occurred where the elected a Board of Directors, established their by-laws and became the first organized Pickleball club in Northern Virginia.
First Board of Directors
President – Gary Hill
Secretary – Wayne Chiles
Treasurer – Mary Abney
Registrar – Fred Rothe
Webmaster – Jon Weber
If you have photos of BCPA in action, and want to share them with everyone, please send them to your BCPA Webmaster for inclusion on this page.
These are a number of First Year Photos that were taken of our pickleball play and a potluck dinner.
19 Jan 2019 - BCPA players don't let a little snow stop them from playing!
23 Jan 2019 - Annual dues email sent.
19 Feb 2019 -
- Burke Centre Pickleball Association (BCPA) Charter was unanimously Approved by the Burke Centre Conservancy Board of Trustees. The Conservancy expressed their appreciation of our volunteers during the BC Festival.
- Conservancy has approved BCPA reservation for all four Landings Courts on Saturday morning. This is huge since there is a BC rule against this.
20 Feb 2019 - BCPA has purchased 3 buckets of balls with first aid kits and distributed them to regular players. No longer dependent on that one guy bringing a bunch of balls.
BCPA has joined Meetup.com to provide a means for players to communicate and schedule their own times to play outside of our scheduled times.
- This will be a Private Group for paid members only
- There are discussion boards where to can ask questions, make suggestions, get rules clarifications, post photos, etc.
- Look for an email asking you to join the BCPA Meetup Group
Member push for BC Residents because we have to keep our membership count at 50% BC Residents
- BCPA looking for donations of no longer used paddles
- BC Residents - talk to your neighbors and get them to try Pickleball out
BC Conservancy has agreed to clean the Landings Courts
30 Mar 2019 - Andy Forsyth ran the first of several clinics he hopes to run during our normal Saturday play time. You can read his notes on the Instruction page.
20 Apr 2019 - Andy ran a second clinic.
24 Jun 2019 - Hardy BCPA Pickleballers don't let a little rain keep them from playing.
29 Jun 2019 - Open House at the Woods Courts, free introduction for Burke Centre Residents from 09:30-12:00 was held. Andy Forsyth, our BCPA Club Pro, ran this training with assistance from other BCPA members. Afterwards was a Social Event - lunch at Glory Days.
6 Jul 2019 - Training class at the Landings Courts by Andy Forsyth...Fine tuning techniques and how to Practice to improve your game
24 Jul 2019 - There were two new Pickleball Classes taught by Andy Forsyth. One for beginners and one for more advanced players. Sign ups for these classes was on the Burke Pickleball Meetup group. The first for Fairly new players, was a short session to teach new players how to make better shot selections and where to place your shots to help you with winning more rallies. The second one for Intermediate and advanced players was designed to the strategies of the top players the skills used to hit more winning shots and keep your opponents off balance.
17 Aug 2019 - Practice Tournament put on by Andy Forsyth For those planning on playing in a Pickleball Tournament for the first time or wanting some additional tips on how to play in a tournament BCPA held a “Practice Tournament” with instruction on at 10 AM at the Woods. Most of the participants arrived by 9 AM for some practice play and warmups prior to starting. Everyone served as a line judge for at least one game to get experience on how the process works or as a Referee for at least one game. A quick tutorial was given for being a line judge and referee.
14 Sep 2019 - The First BCPA Tournament took place. There were Men's, Women's, and Mixed brackets.
We look forward to seeing you all on the courts and many of you are already participating in our Winter League play. Our Season ending League Tournament will be held during the month of May once the leagues ends on April 30. If you have not signed up for the league you have until January 31. See Andy Forsyth or Gary Hill on how to signup. The signup sheets for the league are in our lockers on each court. In the manila envelopes.
25 Sep 2019 - BCPA now has large combination locked storage bins at both the Landings and Woods courts. Thank you to Gary Hill for fighting so hard for us to get these bins, getting them, painting them to meet BCC regulations and installing them at the courts - a Trojan effort that is thoroughly appreciated. Inside the bins are buckets of balls, W and L markers, regulation size pickleball nets, chalk and chalk sticks, and rubber bands to wrap around paddles if there is a foursome that wants to play together, and weights to hold down the tennis nets to regulation height at the outside lines.
5-6 Oct 2019 - The team of Max S. and Adam C representing BCPA placed 4th in a field of nine at the Mid-Atlantic Open Pickleball Tournament, a USAPA sanctioned event. Although they were disappointed to finish just outside the medals, this is an incredible feat as this tournament has some really great players and is very competitive. Congratulations to Max and Adam!
5 Oct 2019 - The Second Annual BCPA Picnic was held next to Burke Pond. Mary Dunden organized the picnic and games. Unfortunately, someone beat us to the picnic area with the grill and tables so we relocated a little distance away. With tables and chairs brought by participants it all worked out. Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves socializing, playing games and eating the delicious shared food. Here are some photos of the picnic.
23 Oct 2019 - Burke Centre has replaced the lights at the Woods with LED lights. They haven't got them right yet. Once they do we might switch a Monday or Wednesday (just once or twice) to the Woods just to see how they are while we are playing. We can then provide any feedback we might have. But not until they get them right.
22 Jan 2020 - Burke Centre has replaced the lights at the Landings with LED lights.
Winter/Spring 2020 - Winter/Spring League Tournament - See League for results
Nov 2020 - BCC cleaned/washed the court surfaces at the Landings and the Woods to remove slippery algae
Summer/Fall 2020 - Summer/Fall League Tournament - See League for results
Winter/Spring 2021 - Winter/Spring League Tournament - See League for results
13 Mar 2021 - With the coming of the Spring means we are going strong with our League Play and we will also be gearing up for some Pickleball Clinics. Andy will be putting out some Meetup invitations very soon so be on the look out for those. Mark your calendar as we are shooting for the last week of March on Saturday, March 28 and probably the third week of April on Saturday, April 18. May 16 or 23 we may do some more clinics. Times TBD but most likely 1 hour each at 9 and 10 AM. And with a few teams entering some local Tournaments we will also hold a clinic on how to improve your tournament strategies and placement of shots. The clinics in March will be Intermediate and advance-intermediate, focusing on common mistakes and how to correct them. And in April the clinics will be placement, strategy, practice and drill methods. I look forward to working with everyone interested in improving their Pickleball skills. . . . see you on the courts. Andy
- BCPA Clinic for Intermediates was held - 27 Mar @ Landings 9:00-10:00 A.M. This clinic will focus on the 10 Most common mistakes that Intermediate players make and how to correct them. These come directly from the Pros. Very good tips that they have put together.
- BCPA Clinic for Beginners and Low Intermediates was held - 27 Mar @ Landings 10:00-11:00 A.M. This clinic is for true beginners (less than 3-4 months play) and for Low Intermediate players that would like to improve their skills and techniques with Serves, Returns, Dinking and Placement of shots.
- BCPA Clinic for Beginners and Low Intermediates - This clinic is for true beginners (less than 3-4 months play) and for Low Intermediate players that would like to improve their skills and techniques with Serves, Returns, Dinking and Placement of shots.
- BCPA Clinic to Improve your Tournament Play was held - 07 Apr @ Landings 6:00-7:00 P.M. This is a special clinic to help tournament players improve their strategies when playing tournaments. You will also learn how to adjust to your opponents shots so you can make better shot selections against them in the next rallies
- Burke Centre Pickleball - Free Open House was held - 17 Apr @ Landings 9:00-10:00 A.M. This free event was to introduce prospective members to BCPA to learn about and play some pickleball with us.
11-12 Nov 2021 - Andy does well in Florida Veteran's Day Tournament. Playing with his partner and old Racquetball playing buddy from Severna Park Racquetball Club they took the Silver in the 60+ Men's Doubles. The competitors were all true 4.0 and 4.5 players. It was a round robin format. They actually beat the Gold Medal winners, but lost their first game to the 4th place team and lost to the Bronze medal winners. Note the hardware that Andy is sporting against his blue shirt.
30 Apr 2022 - Andy held a Pickleball Clinic from 10:00 AM to 11:00 AM - Beginners, Low Intermediate Players for Beginners with some playing time and Low-Intermediate Players that want to improve their shot skills, especially the Dink, Third Shot Drop and Placement of shots. Free to all. Limit 16 for the Clinic Session.
30 Apr 2022 - Andy held a Pickleball Clinic from 11:00 AM to 12:00 PM - Intermediate and Adv-Intermediate Players for the Intermediate player who was looking to improve their technique and placement strategies. Also went over some great dinking drills to help reduce those pesky pop-up dinks. Limit 16 for the Clinic Session.
21 May 2022 - Andy held a Pickleball Clinic from 10:30 AM to 11:30 AM - Beginners, Low Intermediate Players "Practice and Drills" Free to all members. Limit 16 for the Clinic Session.
21 May 2022 - Andy held a Pickleball Clinic from 09:30 AM to 10:30 AM - Intermediate and Adv-Intermediate Players "10 Most common Mistakes" for Intermediate Players who want to correct some of the basic mistakes they are making. Free to all members. Limit 16 for the Clinic Session.
3 & 5 Sep 2022 - Andy held Pickleball Clinics at 10:00 A.M. and 6:00 PM respectively- Beginning Players with little to no experience Free to all. Limit 16 per Clinic Session.
10 Sep 2022 - BCPA staffed a Booth (seen to your left) and had many volunteers for the Burke Centre Festival. More volunteers were signed up for 11 Sep, but the Conservancy canceled the day because of the threat of bad weather. BCPA ran a free paddle promotion drawing for one lucky winner and had a large number of people sign up on our interest forms.
The Burke Centre Festival was a success for us. Its unfortunate that the 11 Sep day was rained out. Those volunteers working at the Midway Games reported how wonderful it was to see the kids joy at the games. Booth volunteers did a great job talking about pickleball and signing up pages of new player prospects. We would like to give a big THANK YOU to all of the volunteers, even those who were scheduled but unused. Most of the sign-ups are beginners with no experience in pickleball. Accordingly, the Board is starting by working with Andy to run Beginner Clinics. The sign-up people will be invited to attend these clinics as we announce them. There will be follow-up play sessions as well.
15 Oct 2022 - Andy held a short notice intramural tournament which nevertheless comprised 24 participants.
17 Oct 2022 - Andy held a Beginners Clinic at the Landings which comprised about a dozen beginning players who wanted to learn how to play pickleball. Some of them have already joined BCPA. We hope they get up to speed quickly and mix it up with the rest of us.
19 Nov 2022 - Andy held Beginners Clinics at the Landings which comprised a half dozen beginning players who wanted to learn how to play pickleball or improve their game. Andy was pleased at how quickly they were picking it up.
05 Dec 2022 - The BCPA Board updated the Bylaws to reflect changes in the Board positions.
18 Dec 2022 - Andy held a Beginners Clinic at the Landings for beginning players who wanted to learn how to play pickleball. Some of them have already joined BCPA. We hope they get up to speed quickly and mix it up with the rest of us.
Mar 2023 - BCPA Board Elections were held. The results are: President: Jon Weber; Treasurer: Mary Abney; Secretary: Ed Verchot; Membership: Genevieve Methvin; At Large-Strategy: Fred Rothe; At Large-Courts: John Simpson
01 Apr 2023 - Andy held an Intermediate clinic and a Beginners clinic at the Landings.
22 Apr 2023 - Andy held an Intermediate clinic "How to Practice your Pickleball shots, i.e. Drills" and a Beginners clinic at the Landings.
Summer League 2023 - ran from May 27 thru Aug 31 2023 for BCPA members only. Sign up used an information gathering form or by contacting AJ or Christine with player info. League play was: Men Rotational and Women Rotational. The League Guidelines and playoff format were emailed to everyone that signed up prior to the league beginning. Playoffs set to run starting 2 Sep are: Men and Women Rotational, Men Doubles, Women Doubles and Mixed Doubles.
6 July through 31 Aug 2023 - We added an additional Thursday Play Session from 5-8 P.M. at the Landings as a pilot from. Since this this time/day is outside what the Conservancy has agreed to provide us under our Charter, we had to reserve the courts with the TennisCall app. We were also hoping to get one "Easy Does It" court for beginners/advanced beginners to play in a less competitive environment on Thursday evenings. The results of this pilot will be discussed by the BOD and reported back to the membership.
9-10 Sep 2023 -The Burke Centre Festival was a successful event in spite of the rain. A big THANK YOU to all of our volunteers. BCPA provided a T-shirt for each volunteer to keep that has our newly designed Logo (thank you to Constantine Milas for designing this) imprinted on it.
September 2023 - The Summer 2023 League wrapped up with Playoffs. The results and some photos of the winners are posted.
15 Oct 2023 - BCPA held a one day open tournament for members. The results and photos of the winners are posted.
14 Nov 2023 - BCPA held a social event at Banditos Tacos and Tequila in University Mall that was well attended. Both the food and company were great. We all had a good time. Here are a few photos from the event.