Lorri Morgan

The Sun Lakes Pickleball Club Cottonwood (SLPCC) is bursting at the seams, and that has resulted in a little pain, but mostly a lot of fun! As of the first week of November, we counted about 410 members, with many snowbirds still flying south. Our monthly meetings are well attended, and our industrious board has been working overtime, resulting in some changes to club operations. The club is social as well as competitive to try to please everyone. The old rating system is being mostly replaced by DUPR (Dynamic Universal Pickleball Rating) (no wonder we use the initials). Patty True, head of the Rating Committee, stresses this system is still being tweaked—part of the growing pains! The HOA has revised the club hours to 7 a.m. until 2:30 p.m. to allow for five, one-and-a-half-hour time slots for different rating groups per weekday. The courts are always overflowing, so this allows all the groups the same amount of play, also aligning with the Tennis Club hours.

To encourage all homeowners to come out to try pickleball, the three new courts are open for Paddle Up on Monday and Wednesday nights from 6 to 8 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to noon and from 2 to 4 p.m. Show up, put your paddle in the slot, and have fun!

Speaking of fun, our first club social is on Dec. 2. A lot of folks have signed up to enter the Chili Cook-Off. Some serious bragging rights are at stake. That date also aligns with Fill the Truck, the annual drive to help out the students from Hamilton High and their families.

Currently, SLPCC has fielded three APPL teams for the league, which starts in January: Women’s 2.5 and 3.0 and a Men’s 4.0.

The Ironwood Pickleball Club has announced that they are hosting a tournament in March, which is open to all Sun Lakes residents. And then there is the big Norris Invitational Tournament (NIT) at Cottonwood held March 4 to March 8, 2024, with divisions for all comers.

It’s going to be a busy year. Keep those paddles up, and join in the fun! “I’ll Dink to that!”