About Us

SMPA has been a Michigan 501(c)3 nonprofit corporation since 2015, before which it operated as the Royal Oak Pickleball Club. SMPA’s first President, Chuck Dominic, was instrumental in turning the club into an IRS registered nonprofit.  SMPA is both proud and grateful to be able to provide primary support for the two sets of outdoor pickleball courts in Royal Oak, Michigan – the Whittier Park Pickleball Complex and the Upton Park Pickleball Courts – which allow our community access to both daily drop-in play and many pickleball events throughout the spring, summer, and fall. In more recent years, SMPA’s second president, Gordon Statz, began partnering with local indoor venues to hold pickleball mixers during the winter season, and SMPA’s third president, Heather Siersma, expanded both SMPA’s summer and winter offerings to include more regular mixers, additional weekly leagues, and an approximately monthly members’ newsletter listing, in the winter, places-to-play pickleball throughout SE Mi.

Under the collaborative efforts of SMPA’s current president, Frank J. Fedel, and the instrumental support of former president Heather Siersma, the organization has made remarkable progress in advancing pickleball in Southeastern Michigan. Together, they have ensured a seamless transition in leadership and worked diligently to enhance the pickleball experience for members. During Fedel’s tenure and building upon the foundation laid by President Siersma, SMPA has further expanded both indoor and outdoor weekly leagues, introduced approximately monthly mini-tournaments, introduced a dedicated 2.5-level player bracket plus four singles brackets for 3.0 – 4.5/5.0 levels for the annual August Royal Oak Pickleball Tournament, and garnered support from nearly three dozen sponsors for that large August tournament! These accomplishments are a testament to the combined efforts of both presidents, who have worked hand in hand to drive the organization forward and provide increased opportunities and accessibility to pickleball enthusiasts in the region.

Latest Updates: 

Courts:

• We are working with the city of Royal Oak to completely tear-down and re-build both the Whittier and Upton Park courts beginning in fall 2024 – as we installed both courts over dilapidated tennis courts, both are in need of these major repairs!
• While SMPA is typically the sole funder of of all the equipment and maintenance work at the Royal Oak pickleball courts through our membership, league, mixer, and tournament proceeds, the city of Royal Oak will be significantly helping with the financial burden of the upcoming tear-down/re-builds estimated to cost >$500,000 in total – thank you Royal Oak!!
• We are also actively working with the city of Royal Oak to, in tandem to the tear-down / rebuilds of both the Whittier and Upton Park courts, add more pickleball courts for our growing pickleball community at both court sets beginning in 2025!! We are about halfway to our $210K fundraising goal for these court additions!
• We completed the last major refurbishment (~$50K in total) of the Whittier Park courts in May 2021 and of the Upton Park courts in Aug 2020.
• We continue to provide annual court and eqp’t maintenance at both court sets, and we completed ~$6K worth of court surface and interior fencing repairs in the spring of 2023 at both the Upton and Whittier Park courts.
• We’ve been continuing to make equipment improvements (updated signage, added court rotation paddle box at Upton, etc.) during the 2023 outdoor playing season; we began these in 2022 with new signage at both court sets plus a paddle box at Whittier.
• We are also working with the city of Royal Oak to add a third fleet of pickleball courts for our growing player community within the next 5 years!
• See “A Brief History of Royal Oak Pickleball” for more information on SMPA’s/Royal Oak’s pickleball courts.

Events:

• SMPA has run 8 indoor mixers, 1 tournament, and 9 indoor leagues over the 2023-2024 indoor playing season at three different indoor venues, with 1 more mixer and one more tournament coming April 2024!
• In summer 2023, we ran 4 outdoor mixers, 3 outdoor mini-tournaments, and 17 outdoor leagues as well as our 13th annual August Royal Oak Classic Tournament!
• Our 2024 outdoor season is in the works with the city of Royal Oak, and we hope to have launch our leagues lottery’s registration ~4/8/24.
• Drop-in play abounds at the outdoor Royal Oak courts whenever a permitted SMPA event (league, mixer, tournament, etc.) is not running:)

Governance:

Contact SMPA: With questions about SMPA, our offerings, membership, other support, etc. please contact SMPA.Mi.2022@gmail.com.

To read “A Brief History of Royal Oak Pickleball”, click here. To read the minutes of our 2022 annual mtg, click here. To read our By-Laws, click here.