Aiken Outdoor Pickleball League Registration Is Open

Registration is now open for the Aiken Outdoor Pickleball League. The league is for mixed doubles 3.0 and 3.5.  The dates are August 17th through September 28th, on Thursdays from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. The matches will be held at Virginia Acres Park, courts 11-14.

The cost is $40 per team, which must consist of one male and one female.  You'll sign up with the same partner for the entire league, and teams will play each of the other teams once.

Every week, one match will be played.  The first team to win 2 games to 11, win by 2.  A third match is only played if there is a tie. The first and second-place teams will receive medals.

Players are required to have their own paddles and balls (Yellow Outdoor Franklin X-40 ball). The teams will play at different times each week. A schedule will be sent out August 11th.

Scoresheets are provided for each game, which will be self-officiated.  The scoresheets much be signed off by each team player.

For more information, you can contact the League Coordinator, Kiss Gunther at kaymachado1@gmail.com.

Aiken Pickleball, Inc. is hosting a New Players Pickleball Clinic at Odell Weeks on Saturday, August 12th.  This will help new players learn about proper court position, how to keep score, transitioning from tennis to pickleball, and more.

For the clinic, players should wear tennis shoes and bring something to drink.  The clinic will take place on courts 1 and 2 in Gym 2.  Balls and paddles will be provided for the clinic.  Cost is $15 per person, maximum 8 platers.

Check-in begins at 9 a.m. at the front desk.  Instruction will take place from 9:30 to 10:30 a.m. with Practice Play from 10:30 a.m. to 12 noon.

Additionally, there will be another New Players Practice Session on Saturday, August 26th. The $15 fee for the clinic will also cover attendance at this practice session.

Learn more about Aiken Pickleball, Inc. and their upcoming events HERE!

October is a magical month for sports fans where all four major American sports leagues are active. The NBA and NHL have begun new seasons. The NFL is well underway, and the MLB Postseason is in full swing. The temperatures might be dipping, but the intensity is rising for many teams.

With arenas and stadiums packed with fans once again, this got us thinking about all of those incredible sports anthems that provide the much-needed soundtrack during any given game. From rock to hip hop to EDM to pop, here are the 25 best sports anthems, ranked.

Here’s the beginning of a theme that’s going to run through this entire list. A great sports anthem needs a killer hook that’s going to pump up the crowd. Whether you’re a Kesha fan or not, the thumping chorus of “Blow” never fails to get people going regardless of how much you might want to deny it.

“And every time I step up in the building, everybody hands go up/And they stay there.” People love a victory song, and they also love to do synchronized movements together with hordes of other fans. This is why DJ Khaled’s “All I Do Is Win” is so perfect. Sure, he’s a selfish, greedy lover, but the dude knows how to put out bangers.

Naughty By Nature’s “Hip Hop Hooray” was seemingly tailor-made for sports arenas. A simple chorus will do that, not to mention everyone rocking and swaying during the chorus in the music video. It’s been an arena classic since it first dropped in 1992. Plus, it’s funny seeing people trying to rap along with Treach and Vin Rock on the verses.

Synth riffs rule! If you say they don’t, it must be exhausting kidding yourself so much. “The Final Countdown” has been a sports anthem for decades, especially in the United States. However, the Swedish band wasn’t really aware of it until the 2000s. Europe singer and “The Final Countdown” songwriter Joey Tempest said in a 2005 interview, “I did an interview about a year ago with a newspaper from America and they talked about how much it's been used in sports in America… which I didn't know so much about. Apparently, it has been used a lot and it was nice to hear.”

Some acts are here for a fun time, not a long time. While Tag Team was a one-hit wonder with “Whoomp (There It Is),” that hit has massive staying power thanks to its use in a number of movies – from D2: The Mighty Ducks to Elf – and countless time outs at sports events. Can you dig it? We can dig it!

Just going to say what we’re all thinking: Randy Rhoads’ classic guitar riff is so powerful and transcendent it could get a funeral hyped up. (Someone try it and report back!) Facetiousness aside, “Crazy Train” has been whipping sports fans into a frenzy for decades, and there’s no stopping this locomotive beast any time soon.

The only thing that’s going to outlive Keith Richards is the way people pop as soon as they hear the iconic opening riff to “Start Me Up.” It’s a jolt and the perfect song to play if an arena crowd has lost a bit of energy when their team is trailing.

“Enter Sandman” is one of a few tunes on this list that’s both a universal anthem and also uniquely associated with a specific team or athlete. In this case, it’s hard not to imagine legendary closer Mariano Rivera jogging from the bullpen to the mound when hearing “Enter Sandman.” Fun fact: The unanimously-elected Baseball Hall of Famer doesn’t actually like Metallica. He told MLB Network in January 2019, “With all due respect to the guys, I’ve never been to one [of their concerts]. As a Christian, with all due respect to Metallica, I don’t listen to that kind of music.”

“Hey! Ho! Let’s go!” It doesn’t take a genius to realize why this Ramones classic is an outstanding sports anthem. Sure, Tommy and Dee Dee Ramone probably didn’t have sports fans in mind when they wrote the song, but it’s another example of songs taking on different meanings after they’re released.

Young man, are you listening to me? People love simple dances. If you can do the dance after a couple (or a lot) of overpriced beers, that’s even better. Try and deny it all you want, but “Y.M.C.A.” will live forever and will get people moving whether you’re at a sporting event, a wedding, a bar/bat mitzvah or whatever you feel.

It took a bit, but techno has finally made its way into this list. You may not recognize the artist or title of this song, but if you’ve attended a sporting event in the past two decades, you most definitely have heard “Kernkraft 400.” Jump to the 1:55 mark in the video below, and you’ll likely say out loud, “Oh! This song!”

When Steve Perry, Jonathan Cain and Neal Schon wrote “Don’t Stop Believin’,” they probably had no idea how big of an impact the song would make in the sports world. Perry likely didn’t think it would become a rallying song for the 2005 Chicago White Sox and would lead to him being invited to watch the team win the World Series, let alone get to party with them in the locker room and attend the championship parade. The track is also important to Perry’s hometown team, the San Francisco Giants, who play “Don’t Stop Believin’” during the 8th inning of every home game. Lastly, Detroit Red Wings fans have screamed “born and raised in south Detroit” at home games for years when the song plays at the end of a winning home game. Sure, there is no “South Detroit,” and geographically speaking, south of Detroit is Windsor, Ontario, Canada, but it’s all in good fun.