by Mike Melendez | Jul 31, 2017 | Weekly Player Profile
Eddie Montañez By Dave Siegel
I guarantee that you will not find another person in the world of paddleball like Eddie Montañez. Eddie is a very talented player with amazing skills who plays the game strictly to have fun and truly does not care if he wins or loses. He is a hard hitter, fast and accurate, with terrific kill shots. But his favorite shots are his ultra-sharp cuts, which he can curve left, right and straight up and down. He also has perfected behind-the-back and through-the-legs shots. He will use these “trick” shots at any time during a rally, earning him the well deserved nickname “Sideshow.”
He started playing the game 38 years ago when he spotted his future wife, Dixie, playing paddleball in Sunset Park, Brooklyn. He decided that the best way to meet her was to play in her game. It worked! He has been playing ever since, mostly twice a week, the past 13 years in Midland Beach, Staten Island.
The sports story of Eddie Montañez goes well beyond paddleball. He a great athlete and a renowned softball player. During the summer, he plays every week in the Bensonhurst Park Softball League, pitching and playing the infield. He has won multiple MVP’s, Cy Young awards, hit hundreds of homers and was inducted into the league’s Hall of Fame!
But the most outstanding part of Eddie’s life does not involve sports. He is a hero! Eddie and his family live along the beachfront in Staten Island, which was one of the hardest hit areas by Hurricane Sandy. During and after the storm, though his house was partially submerged, Eddie risked his life, along with his son Eddie, to save the lives of two trapped elderly neighbors along with their two dogs. He did this while bleeding because one of the pooches bit him! He also rescued two more people from their marooned van and lodged them in his house for several days. We are all proud of him for his bravery and caring!
But back to paddleball. I’m sure many of you were shuddering as you read about Eddie’s trick shot game, because you are competitive and want to play at 100% at all times. But who is to say that Eddie’s approach to the game is not the best one? His advice to all players: “Paddleball is a wonderful sport. Don’t take it so seriously. Have fun playing and you’ll love the game!”
by Mike Melendez | Jul 17, 2017 | Weekly Player Profile
Tony Cascella By Dave Siegel
By now, most of you know the miraculous, heroic story of Tony Cascella, the focus of the “Welcome Back Tony” tournament held last September at Staten Island. In January, 2016 he was stricken with sudden cardiac arrest while playing paddleball in Clifton, NJ. His life was over. But Keith Jackson, Mitch Goldberg and Mitch Resnick wouldn’t allow it to happen. They brought him back using their CPR skills, assisted by a defibrillator. Today Tony is in good health, once again playing the game he loves at a high level.
Tony’s real life and paddleball career may not be as well known. He is a native Staten Islander and a retired NYPD detective. Inspired by his brother Michael, he started playing back in 1981 at Staten Island’s Egbert I.S. playground. He has played many sports, but paddleball is his first love and he has become a lifer. Tony’s athletic ability and determination have enabled him to become one of the top players in Staten Island. He is a right handed player with a deadly left who is one of the best right side righties in the game, possessing terrific angle kill shots with either hand. When teamed with a lefty, Tony is an outstanding left side player as well. He is also an excellent paddleball referee, always willing to help in tournaments.
Tony’s advice to other players is to “Play Hard, Play Fair and remember, it’s only a game!” This is exactly what we would expect from Tony, because he has always been a tough and fair competitor, while respecting his partner and opponents. It has served him well, earning him widespread admiration. Tony is also a big proponent of the PFA and the work it has done to assimilate the paddleball community and encourage the resurgence of the youth in the game.
Tony would like to thank the whole paddleball community for the countless well-wishes and support during and after his illness, with a very special thank-you to Keith, Mitch and Mitch, the heroes who saved his life. The paddleball community thanks them too! Welcome Back Tony!
by Mike Melendez | Jul 13, 2017 | Blogs
I Got Next!??
“I got next!”, the slogan of the PFA, has a different meaning in Midland Beach, Staten Island. A player can’t simply pick the court and partner he or she likes and wait it out until it’s time to get on (zzzzz….). Is this unfair? Maybe. But Staten Island has long had its unique system of playground paddleball that has spanned generations and it has remained intact, just like when it started in the ’70’s! And I think the advantages make it terrific. This is how it works:
The three pillars of the system are fast scoring, rotational courts and “you don’t pick your own partner”. Fast scoring means a point is scored by either team when it wins a rally, not just when serving. Rotational is more complicated. I’ll describe the rotational system as applied with 18 players and 4 available courts:
- Courts 1, 2, 3 and 4 are designated. Usually the “best” court (most often favorable sun conditions) is Court 1, and the others ranked accordingly.
- Games on each court start at the same time.
- After all four games are concluded, the winners of Court 1 stay on this court. The winners of the other games advance to the next court and the losers drop down to the lower court. In other words, the next game on Court 2 is played with the losers of Court 1 against the winners of Court 3. The losers of the last Court (4), drop out and have next and the 2 players who waited during the first game come on to Court 4 against the losers of Court 3.
- If a winning team decides to drop out, the losing team stays on (if on Court 1) or advances as though they won (other courts). All other teams advance one notch.
The number of courts played on obviously depends on the number of players available. Games are formed based on arrival times of players. With less than 18 players, the most amount of players waiting for next is 3.
How does “you don’t pick your own partner” work?
Partners are matched up in the order that they arrive at the courts. The first two play together, second two together, and so on. An odd person waits for the next person to arrive. If two people arrive together, and there is an odd person waiting, they flip a coin to determine who plays with the odd person. (This means that if you plan to arrive with your regular partner in order to play together, you have only a 50% chance of teaming up with your buddy.). Additionally: If you lose on the last court and only 1 person has next, you flip with your partner to see who goes back on the last court to play with him or her. If a player drops out, and the partner wants to continue playing, the remaining player must play with the next person waiting to play.
When the system is up and running, new players who arrive can say “I got next!”, but they can have next only on the last court and they must go to the end of the line behind any players waiting. As teams lose on the last court, they go to the end of the line as well. If no one is waiting, the losers of the last court go back on to this court. If there are more than approximately 3 players waiting for next, “The List” is created. Players sign in and play in the proper order. Again, since you don’t pick your own partner, teams are configured based on the order of the players waiting.
That’s it in a nutshell. Does it always work exactly like this? Of course not! I’ll go over some of the variations afterward, but first let’s discuss why this system has served Staten Island well over the decades.
The advantage of fast scoring in conjunction with rotational lies in the fact that when the games all start together they all end within minutes of each other. With regular scoring, a game can last anywhere between 10 and 45 minutes. With such a variation, the rotational system would not work with regular scoring because the dead time between games is compounded among all the players. But the rotational system combined with fast scoring makes for clean, crisp action with minimal dead time.
“You don’t pick your own partner” also greatly reduces dead time. In almost every park outside of Staten Island, you come down to the courts and check out the games and decide where you want to play based on who is playing, the wait time and the level of competition. You say “I got next!” and it’s “I”, not “we”. You are not obligated to play with the other waiting players. You can play with your regular partner who arrives at the last minute or came off another court while you were waiting. You can even pick a loser from the game you are waiting for! If there are 5 people waiting, you may wait 5 games. This means more and more dead time and it can create some animosity for people not chosen.
Yes, the better players often want to have their “elite” game, but with fast scoring, rotational and “you don’t pick your own partner”, Court 1 in short order becomes an elite court and it’s quite an achievement to have a winning streak there as “King of the Court”. Plus, you put in lots more playing time and play many more games against different players in the course of a day.
What are some of the variations and sources of discontent?
Three waiting. When 3 people have next we usually will declare “3 on”, meaning the losers from the next to last court flip to determine who must sit, thus allowing 3 players come on to play on the last court. This is often not popular with the player who lost the flip.
Incompatible partners. Accommodations will occasionally be made in situations where two players would rather not play together, such as 2 lefties.
Must play together. This could happen if a player brings a friend or relative to the courts who is inexperienced or unfamiliar with the other players. He or she may be allowed to play with this person. Or perhaps two players who are getting ready to play together in a tournament will be accommodated.
Finagling for partners. In order to circumvent the “you don’t pick your own partner” rule, all sorts of finagling sometimes takes place. Other players don’t always take it with a smile.
The elitists. The theme of this system is that everyone at the park plays together. There is no “A” “B” or “C” game. Some players are not entirely happy with this and have “broken away” at times.
The arguers. Some players are notorious for prolonging games by engaging in repeated disputes during play (no names mentioned here!). This prolongs the game and the problem is compounded by upsetting the rhythm of the rotational system, which affects everyone.
Change to regular scoring. While fast scoring is fine and trust me, you get used to it, the paddleball purists sometimes prefer regular scoring. Years ago, when the games started early in the morning, 12 noon marked the switch to regular scoring. At that point many of the players had departed and this usually worked well because all agreed to play “long”. However present day, the games start later and once in awhile, two teams about to play will “play long” without telling anyone. This is not good! Obviously dead time is increased. Proper etiquette at Midland Beach dictates that the decision to play long should be mutually agreeable to all.
When did you get here? Here’s a good one: Is time of arrival determined when you park your car or when you emerge through the gate on to the court proper? Also, there are 3 entrances to the Midland Beach courts, and without the benefit of instant slo-mo replays it is sometimes difficult to know who arrived first. Sometimes we need to ask for an outside call on these.
Well that’s it. Maybe this system isn’t for everyone. However it has proven to be successful and survived literally for generations. If you come to the courts to hang out and socialize, the Staten Island system may not be for you. But if you come for continuous action, I think you’ll like it! Despite its drawbacks, I believe the advantages outweigh them. Other paddleball groups should consider adopting our system.
I got next!??
by Mike Melendez | Jul 9, 2017 | Weekly Player Profile
Jay Brown
Jay reminds me more of a power forward basketball player instead of a paddleball player. He is a hard hitting right handed paddleball player from the Bronx with a ton of potential to become one of the sport’s elite player. He started playing the game back in the 80s but really has been playing consistently the past 2 years. He started playing the game at the courts on P.S 86 on Riverside Drive in Manhattan and Central Park at the age of about 15 years old. He then took his game in search of tougher competition to St. James park in the Bronx.
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His Mom & Dad are his favorite players, “Just watching the enjoyment of the competitiveness between them two” inspired him to compete at a high level in sports. He loves the game of paddleball, likes the hustle , the atmosphere, the different type of style of people’s games. He said the competition of the game is what attracted him to the sport, “Competition just love it..”. He has won a few tournaments the past two years including the PFA 1st Winter Open Restricted Doubles with Joey Vega. He also qualified to the PFA 1st Summer Doubles Invitational Classic at Orchard Beach.
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He said “Sportsmanship goes a long way with me..” and feels is one of the things that will help grow the sport and make it more enjoyable to play. His advice to his paddleball peers? “they probably already know this “HAVE FUN”!!” He thinks the game is in good shape but reminds everyone to ” Just be fare”.
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He concluded the interview with..
“WHO GOT NEXT?.. that’s all..I’m coming!!!”
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You are definitely coming Jay, stay focused and keep working hard. You Got Next!
by Mike Melendez | Jul 3, 2017 | Weekly Player Profile
Mathew, “The Sniper”, is a powerful right handed player in his late 20s. He is a quite Paddleball gentleman of few words on the courts. But do not let his on court quite demeanor fool you, on the court he is a hungry lion constantly stalking his prey. You must keep him on the defense, cause setting his right hand up while you are in front could be dangerous to your health!
He started playing paddleball regularly around the age of 17 at Van Cortland park, which is still his home park, about 13 years ago. His father inspired him to start playing paddleball. He plays one to two times a week year round, Zerega Indoor is his home court during the winter season. Of the many shots in the game his favorite is between a heavy topspin drop shot and a lob with heavy under-spin. He does not have a particular favorite player but his top 5, in no specific order, are: Hoppy, Eddie (Flaco), Sostre, Nelson, and Richie Miller
His view about the sport of paddleball?. “I think it’s a great sport. It’s fun, addictive, physically and mentally rigorous, and most of all if I haven’t mentioned, it’s fun lol”.
I asked him what he thinks is needed to take the sport to the next level? ” There are outdoor one wall courts all over New York City. In order to help the sport thrive, I think it’s necessary to travel to different parks to allow others both inside and outside the park to see the game of paddleball in action, especially parks where one wall courts aren’t being utilized “
His advice to his paddleball peers is ” to keep playing, never quit”. He believes there is nothing that need to be changed about the sport of paddleball at this time.
Congratulation Matt! Continue supporting the sport we all love and keep giving paddleball PowPow!
by Mike Melendez | Jun 27, 2017 | Editorial
As most of you are aware, the PFA Rules Committee has just updated the paddleball rules and I urge all of you to read and understand them. During the last couple of years, as I read the dialogue on the PFA Facebook page, the extent of diverging interpretations of the rules has really surprised me. That having been said, the proper application of the rules depends upon the referee and lines-persons. However, think about it, where do we have these officials? In tournaments, of course. 99% or more of all paddleball is played at local parks for fun, exercise and friendly competition, without any refs or lines-persons. We call our own games – and we have arguments! What follows are some guidelines on how to play games without officials for maximum fun and less disputes.
First of all, let’s make an important assumption: Paddleball players are fair and don’t cheat. They are all good sportspersons and understand that everyone occasionally sees a play incorrectly, and that means everyone! They know that accusing players of cheating or insisting “you saw it wrong and I saw it right!” gains nothing except ill-will. In the course of a game or a day, they understand that the incorrect calls will even out. Furthermore, paddleball players all willingly accept a do-over for all disagreements and never let it escalate into an argument. Maybe this is naive, but it is crucial to having a good fair game. If you don’t buy into this, give it a try, but please stop reading this blog and check out my future blog on How to Out-Cheat Cheaters!
Perhaps the biggest source of arguments are line balls. Was it inside or outside or did it hit the line? Well the only way to fairly call lines is for the players with the best view to be the only ones who can make a call. That means the two left side players call their sideline and the right side call theirs. The server’s partner calls the short line and the serve returner’s partner calls the long line. Long lines during rallies should be called only by the deep players. The one that irks me the most is the short line, where it has evolved to the point that the returning team is given equal authority to call shorts, but this is ridiculous. The partner of the server (not the server) has by far the best view of the line. Similarly, the partner of the returner sees the long line best.
Outside callers can be used to help facilitate line calls. When players are not sure, or there is disagreement, and there is an outside observer with a good view of the play, this person’s call should be solicited. However, both teams should agree in advance that they are willing to take this person’s call. Outside callers should understand not to make a call unless asked. If an observer sees a play where a seemingly out ball is missed, bite your tongue unless asked! If outside callers disagree, and both have equal views, call a do-over. And don’t ask an outside caller standing 10 feet behind the long line for a call at the short line!
Call it immediately! If a situation arises during the course of play that would require play stoppage, don’t wait until the play is over. It must be called right away and play stopped. Belated calls breed arguments. Among these are:
- Struck by backswing or forward swing.
- Illegal body contact.
- Illegal movement. A player who took position improperly or crossed the ball is more likely to understand what he or she did wrong if it is pointed out immediately.
- Ball on court. Remember, it’s primarily for safety. If it interferes with play, it should be called immediately by any player, but players who decide to go for the shot and then call it if they miss will have a difficult time justifying the call. By the same token, don’t wait until your opponent is lining up a set-up to call it!
- Obstruction with a player on an adjacent court. Don’t take a chance on hitting an unprepared player. And don’t abuse this by making a call on a ball you had almost no chance to reach, much less return it to the wall.
- “I wasn’t ready”. If you weren’t set for the serve, don’t return the serve anyway, then say you weren’t ready. If you had time to swing at the ball, you had time to call “not ready”.
Watch what you say. Follow the rules prohibiting unnecessary talking during a rally. Only give instructions to your partner such as “I got it”, “let it”, “play”, or make block or out calls. Never say “out” as instructions instead of “leave”. And never say “good”. A call of good can stop the play. Play it out and if there is a question after the play, state that you saw it good. Similarly, don’t say “long” until a served ball bounces. A long call stops the play and if a player returns it on the fly it was an unnecessary stoppage. After the rally, don’t engage in lengthy or unnecessary conversation. This can be interpreted, rightly or wrongly, as psyching your opponent or stamina relief. Play on! And lastly, there is no place for trash talking in paddleball.
Learn what a block is. This is one of the greatest sources of dispute. The new rules clearly specify the conditions for a valid block call, but paddleball is a long way from everyone understanding and adhering to a uniform standard. Also local parks adopt their own block rules, such as through-the-legs is automatic. There is no easy answer, but the best advice is for players to read, understand and discuss the conditions for a valid block call and to err on the side of safety. If a player was caught in a situation where he or she was afraid to hit an opponent with the paddle or nail a player with the ball, the block should be granted.
Outside callers in general. Besides helping in the calling of lines, knowledgeable outside observers should be used where available for calls if there is dispute, such verifying a block call, killer good or not, did ball graze the person or not, was movement illegal? Accepting the outside call should be mutually agreeable in advance and players should not gripe if they disagree with the outside caller. Remember, paddleball players don’t cheat and it will all even out in the long run!
It’s also OK to adopt friendly liberal application of the rules, but don’t change them on the spot. For example, foot faults are rarely called in park play. If you observe a player abusing the foot fault rule to gain an advantage, inform him/her of the transgression as a warning and request the server’s partner or an outside observer to call foot faults afterward. Another example is catching an obviously long or outside ball on the fly. If this is the accepted application of the rule at your park, stay with it, but expect to be called out if there is a “checked swing”. Be aware that it can become a bad habit and come back to bite you in a tournament. Safety. Always keep safety in the forefront. It’s better to lose a point than to hurt someone or get hurt. Abide by the “Code of Conduct”. Everyone will enjoy the game more.
Above all, don’t cheat, or if you do cheat, don’t get caught!
by Mike Melendez | Jun 24, 2017 | Weekly Player Profile
Brian Newson Weekly Player profile(6/25/17)
Brian is a left handed player that has been playing paddleball off and on since the late 70’s. He is a very humble and liked by the paddleball community. He has been working with NYC for the past 32 years. He also has been a volunteer for the past 6 years with NYC Office of Emergency Management Community Emergency Response Team(CERT). Like many of his paddleball peers he picked up the game quickly because he transitioned from handball to paddleball. He started playing paddleball on 134th Street at St. Nicholas Park in Manhattan. He then took his game to 135th street by Harlem Hospital in search of tougher competition. As his game improved he once again moved on to Lenox Avenue and 113th street in search of tougher competition. Currently his home outdoor park is Sayers and Juniper park and Zerega in the winter. He normally plays twice a week, Saturday & Sunday. In the summer he travels with his friends and fellow paddleball players Alex Cherry and Marian Quinn around the Tri-State area in search of tough competition and meet new friends. His favorite paddleball shot is the spike. He does not have a favorite player. However, he does watch and pay attention to a lot of players/games to learn and possibly incorporate a shot or a particular strategy. He loves paddleball, he said “it’s a great way to keep active, better your health (my doctor is always surprised at my heart rate) and you meet great people when you travel to different parks.”
I asked him what he thinks is needed to grow the sport? His response, “It’s great that the Paddle Family Alliance is actively engaging kids, you may want to reach out and convert current handball players”. His advice to his paddleball peers is “Just to have fun, respect each other and the calls that are being made and let your play decide the game”. He believes there is “Nothing to change about a sport that is great to play with other players who are inclusive of others no matter the skill level.”
CONGRATULATION Brian
by Mike Melendez | Jun 22, 2017 | Paddleball Clinic
PFA Summer Kids Paddleball Clinics schedule confirmed so far:
Starting July 10, 2017 & Ending August 5, 2017
Kids Registered – 20 per session – Total 40 per day.
Mondays – Session #1 10:30 to 11:30 – Session #2 11:30 to 12:30
Tuesdays – Session #1 10:30 to 11:30 – Session #2 11:30 to 12:30
If you, or someone you know ,is interested in having their kids attend the clinics send email to Paddleball.family@gmail.com or call Mike Melendez at 917-306-0542
Thanks, Mike
by Mike Melendez | Jun 22, 2017 | Informational
We are all set to kick off the first session of our Referees & Line-Person workshop. The workshop will take place at Colucci park in the Bronx on August 6, 2017 from 11:00 AM to 1:00 PM. Refreshment will be served for the participants in the workshop. At this time 12 individuals have registered for the workshop. If you are interested and can make it please submit your request via the website blog’ comment.
Reminder, the objectives of the workshop is to make sure we all read the PFA’s paddleball rules version and interpret them correctly and spread the word across the paddleball community. More important, make us all better Head Referees & Lines-Person and help us improve the quality of tournament officiating!
WE GOT NEXT!
Thanks
Mike
by Mike Melendez | Jun 21, 2017 | Editorial
Paddleball Editorial – To Travel or Not?
A large number of paddleball players do not like to travel to other parks throughout the Tri-State area. For many there are legit reasons why they cannot travel, physical limitation, financially, family, too far, just to mention a few. Personally, I live in New Jersey and any travel to anywhere in NY is at least 100 miles round trip. So, I carefully plan my trips to NY and make sure paddleball games are included in my trips. I cannot travel to NY more than twice a week. If I could I would LOVE to visit different parks at least 3 times a week.
I’ve noticed a number of teams have dropped off the upcoming tournament scheduled for July 22 at Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx. Originally this tournament was to take place across the Tri-State Area at different locations and the number of teams registered in advanced was significant in a short period of time. Now that the tournament format has changed due to the lack of participants in some of the boroughs, a number of teams have dropped off. As I said above, in some cases there are solid reasons why people cannot travel and that is fully understood. But in many cases is just that people do not want to travel because they feel more comfortable playing in their local parks.
In my opinion, it is critical we(paddleball players) travel across the Tri-State Area to showcase our talents and support our tournaments. The handball community does a heck of a job in this area and I believe this is one of the reasons they are growing so fast. We, Paddleball players, need to do more of this. There are more pros than cons in doing this. Four important PROs, just to mention a few, when we travel to support the sport are:
- Expose the game to the young generation.
- Help grow the sport by showcasing our talents.
- Large gathering sends a family message to the community where people bring their kids to watch and have a good time, i.e., PFA PowPows.
- Large players turnout at tournaments, NO BETTER FORMULA TO ATTRACT POTENTIAL SPONSORS.
Your thoughts? – Please lets use our energy on the POSITIVES thoughts instead of the negatives.
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