Mary Littlewood and the experts play a demo game at the Sun Lakes Pickleball Club Cottonwood Expo. From left to right on the court are Gigi LeMaster, Ron Robinson, Mary Littlewood, Dianne Zimmerman, Harry Bichierri and Dave Zapatka.
Irene D’Aloisio, Publicity
Sun Lakes Pickleball Club Cottonwood (SLPCC) hosted their first Pickleball Expo at the Saguaro Room in Cottonwood on October 28, an event which will become an annual affair. The reason for the Expo? To assist club members in improving their games and strategy by getting information from experts, as well as to give the club an opportunity to meet their Pickleball neighbors around the Sun Lakes area; 10 neighboring clubs were invited to the Expo to learn, network and socialize and just have a good time.
The event started late morning with SLPCC President Bob Michaels introducing Mary Littlewood. Mary is the author of the USAPA sanctioned book, Pickleball Fundamentals. It is the only book sanctioned by the organization. Mary signed all the books sold during the event and then took the floor to discuss her book and Pickleball in general. This information comes from a great source as Mary has earned numerous gold, silver and bronze medals in the Arizona Senior Olympics and in the Huntsman World Senior Games. Yes, she is definitely an expert! The floor was then turned over to the panel of Pickleball experts: Gigi LeMaster, Surprise; Ron Robinson, Ahwatukee; Dave Zapatka, Sun Lakes/Cottonwood; and Dianne Zimmerman, Sun Lakes/IronOaks. The next half hour was spent asking the panel a variety of questions and getting answers directly from the experts who generously shared their knowledge. It was informative and great fun as the experts and audience bantered back and forth with Mary and each other.
After the panel finished the question and answer session, everyone moved to the court for a demo by the Pickleball experts. Mary gave several tips on how to make shots, serve and strategize with the crowd enjoying the game, the tips and being able to watch the experts play.
After the demo, it was back to the Saguaro Room for pizza and other refreshments. It gave members and guests another opportunity to ask more questions of the experts, as well as chat with our neighboring club members.
At the end of the event, the consensus was that everyone learned something, no matter what their level of play is. The SLPCC is looking forward to another great Expo experience in 2016.