Message from the Chair (1-5-26)

Happy New Year to Our PCVG Family

As we begin the new year, I am pleased to share with you some details on the continued growth and progress of PCVG. Our programs are continuing to expand, our volunteer base continues to grow, and participation across leagues, drill & play, and other play opportunities remains strong. Today, more than 1400 Villagers are actively participating in over 50 different PCVG activities and programs.

ACCOMPLISHMENTS - OVER THE PAST YEAR

  • MyPBGames has been successfully implemented across all leagues and has proven to be an effective and reliable platform. Implementation of MyPBGames is now underway for drill & play groups with the Warriors’ program already incorporated.
  • The 4.5 rating clinics are up and running.
  • Continued improvements are being made to the 3.0 and 3.5 PCVG rating processes.
  • A uniform training program is being developed for all volunteer instructors.
  • New leagues continue to be established on a regular basis.
  • A new PCVG-Pickleball in The Villages Facebook page was created, and we now have over 900 joined participants.

HONORING PAST LEADERSHIP: In recognition of many years of service and leadership, the Board will confer the title of Board Member Emeritus upon Steve Richter at the January Board meeting. I am hoping that a separate article in The Villages Daily Sun will be published detailing Steve’s significant contributions and the role he played in helping shape PCVG into the organization it is today.

GOVERNANCE IMPROVEMENTS: Back to all the positives, the Board recently implemented three significant changes to strengthen governance and improve operations.

  • We created a Data Usage & Technology Security Policy. This policy aims to protect PCVG sensitive data and safeguard our systems against unauthorized access and distribution.
  • The PCVG’s formal complaint process has been strengthened to ensure that the Board addresses only significant issues raised by affected individuals. In order for a complaint to be considered by the Board, the complaint must meet specific criteria as outlined in the Complaint Process section of the PCVG Procedures & Policies document. All complaints are also subject to a mandatory mediation process.
  • Beginning with the January meeting, the monthly Board meetings will no longer be open to the public. The Board has a lot to accomplish at each meeting, and these business meetings are not the right forum for non-Board members to get updated on what the Board is doing. Instead, the Board will host periodic public forums which will be the perfect opportunity for PCVG participants to get fully informed regarding all PCVG developments and to ask questions and make suggestions.

    Our first open meeting will be held on January 19th from 6:30-8:30 pm at the Rohan Recreation Center. If you plan to attend the meeting, you will need to RSVP. You will also be able to submit your questions or suggestions in writing when you RSVP. We will not have time to take questions or comments from the attendees during the meeting, but we will get through as many submitted questions and comments as time allows. More information about these meetings and how to RSVP will be forthcoming.

    The open meetings will also be used by the Board to continue the good work of The Pickleball Club. With the assistance of two former Pickleball Club Board members, many of the open meetings will include an outside speaker on topics of interest.

THE FUTURE IS BRIGHT: Despite the unanticipated challenges we have recently faced, I and the other Board members are committed to supporting all of our great volunteers and continuing to improve the PCVG pickleball experience. I’m looking forward to a great year for all of us in 2026.

Doug McClintock

PCVG Chairman

Message from the Chair (12-15-25)

Getting to 4.5 Clinic

I am happy to announce that our first 4.5 ratings clinics for men and women were held successfully in the second week of December. Congratulations to the following players who achieved a new PCVG 4.5 rating:  Kathy Pals, Rosie Campbell, Matt Oswald, Mark Montgomery and Jeff Willis. The next women's 4.5 ratings clinic will be on January 8th at Miona at noon, and the next men's clinic will be on January 13th at 10 am at Rohan.

In addition, starting this Thursday, December 18th, at 10:30 am in Pod B at Everglades, we are holding the first "Getting to 4.5" clinic. If you don't have either a PCVG 4.0 rating or a reliable DUPR of at least 4.4, you need to come to this clinic in order to get qualified to sign up for the January 4.5 ratings clinic. You should also come to this clinic if you are qualified to sign up for a 4.5 ratings clinic and you want to get an informal evaluation and instruction on how you can improve your game to get to the 4.5 level.

Attending this clinic will be a great way to ensure you are ready to sign up for the next 4.5 ratings clinic. The clinic is open to men and women. I hope we have a lot of players take advantage of this opportunity. You don't have to sign up—you just need to show up ready to play. I hope to see you there.

Douglas G. McClintock

Message from the Chair (11-9-25)

Dear PCVG Volunteers and Participants,

On behalf of the PCVG Board, I’m thrilled to share some exciting news: we’ve launched a brand-new Facebook page dedicated to everything PCVG! The name of the Facebook page is PCVG-Pickleball in The Villages.

This new Facebook page will be the PCVG’s official hub for updates, announcements, and celebrations within our pickleball community.

Unfortunately, the previous Facebook page many of us used—The Villages Pickleball Community—is no longer managed by the PCVG. It was taken over by individuals not affiliated with our organization.

To ensure you continue receiving accurate and timely PCVG information, we invite all our volunteers and participants to join the new page as soon as possible. We encourage you to treat this page as your exclusive Facebook destination for pickleball in The Villages.

The Join PCVG Facebook Page button displayed below takes you directly to the Facebook page where you can select Join group. You will be asked to answer three questions. If ever needed, the direct link to the PCVG’s official Facebook page is:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/3748376402122713

A heartfelt “thank you” to Julia Biggs, who generously volunteered her time and talent to create this new page for us. Her dedication is deeply appreciated.

Thank you for your continued support and enthusiasm. We look forward to seeing you on the new page!

Doug McClintock

PCVG Chairman

Message from the Chair (10-28-25)

Dear PCVG Volunteers and Participants,

I decided to undertake this leadership role with the PCVG because I have great respect and gratitude for all of the volunteers past and present who have devoted significant time and effort to enhance our pickleball experience in the Villages. I have benefited from those efforts since I moved to the Villages in 2017.  I hope that my experience as a corporate attorney and pickleball lover will enable me to make a meaningful contribution to the Board and the organization.

Being new to the Board, I have conducted my own extensive investigation into all of the circumstances that led to the recent controversy and leadership changes.  I have used what I learned to develop a set of recommended changes to strengthen the Bylaws and procedures and to prevent future conflict that could damage the organization.  I will update you as those changes are made.

I want to assure you that the activities being provided by our volunteers have not skipped a beat and have not been affected by the controversy and leadership changes.  Our volunteers are currently serving over 1117 Villagers who are participating in PCVG sponsored activities, and that number continues to grow. The Board is working hard to support our volunteers and to make positive changes.

I also have a responsibility to address certain questions and concerns that have been raised as we move forward.  Some of you have requested increased transparency relating to the management and financials of the organization, and that is a top priority for me. In my investigation, I found that the Board has always made a genuine effort to be fully transparent; but the players didn’t always know where to find the information they wanted.  In order to close that gap, I will be providing updates and disclosures by sending out regular Messages from the Chair to make sure you are all fully informed and up to date.

The Board also just made the decision to establish a dedicated PCVG Facebook page.  The PCVG lost control over the Villages Pickleball Community page, so we had no choice but to develop our own site.  The new Facebook site will be “PCVG in the Villages,” and it will be devoted primarily to PCVG activities and announcements. It will also include posts by other organizations and individuals sponsoring non-PCVG pickleball activities of interest to all of us. That page will help keep you informed and up to date. I will be announcing the launch of our new Facebook page soon and providing you with a link that you can use to join. We hope that you will sign up right away and become an active user.

Another important issue that I began to address at the last Board meeting is the issue of membership. As you know, the previous Board adopted a $20 annual fee to be paid by any player who participates in one or more PCVG activities that are managed by the MyPBGames software program.

That program has been used for a number of years by The Villages Competitive Pickleball Club (TVCPC) led by Bob Hanna, and Bob tells me it has been well worth the expense they have incurred.  Historically, TVCPC has charged $6 per participant for each activity managed by MyPBGames. The PCVG Board decided that it would be more efficient to implement a single annual fee of $20, regardless of how many PCVG activities a player chooses to participate in.  The $20 fee will also cover all of the other operating expenses of the PCVG which, for all of the previous years, has been paid by our founder Steve Richter and our volunteers.

The previous Board decided to label the fee a “membership fee,” which actually referred to membership in MyPBGames. Additional wording changes were adopted on the PCVG website and in communication materials that have been interpreted to mean that anyone who paid the $20 fee had become a member of the PCVG. The fact is, however, that the PCVG was never intended to be a membership organization and has never had members. Its stated purpose, as set forth in the Bylaws, is to be a purely volunteer organization providing organized activities supporting pickleball to any pickleball player in the Villages who wishes to participate. The Board never took formal action to convert the organization to a membership organization.

The Board is now in the process of updating all of the terminology on the website and other communications to convert the concept of membership to participation.  The fee will be referred to as a service fee that will be paid by all participants who will become “members” of MYPBGames.

I have also received some questions about the voting process and voting rights, and I want to briefly explain those.  The organization is managed by a group of volunteers who fall into one of three titled positions: 1. Officers of the Board (4), 2. Activity Directors (8), and 3. Activity Leaders (46).   Officers are elected to two-year staggered terms, and Activity Directors are up for election every year.  All Officers, Activity Directors, and Activity Leaders have a vote for Officer elections.  Only Activity Leaders vote for the Activity Director who will represent them for their activity.  The Officers and Activity Directors have voting rights with respect to all matters that come before the Board. 

Another outstanding issue is the claim that the file of email addresses for all of the players who have registered their email address with the PCVG was compromised and transferred to someone outside the organization.  We are conducting a complete investigation of that claim, and I can tell you that so far, we have not found any credible evidence that supports that claim.  We have determined that a number of players with emails in that database did not receive any communication in connection with the petition that was emailed to thousands of players.  I will be announcing the final results of that investigation as soon as it is completed.

In the next update, I also will be announcing the re-start of the 4.5 rating clinic, a revised complaint process, and the results of the elections for the Activity Director positions among other things.  

Thank you for supporting the PCVG by participating in our activities.  I look forward to seeing you out on the courts.

Doug McClintock

PCVG Chairman