Issue link: https://imageup.uberflip.com/i/1528127
| SUN LAKES LIFESTYLES | NOVEMBER 2024 | 55 POP Tennis POP Tennis, formerly known as Paddle Tennis, is a fun, fast sport that can be enjoyed by people at all fitness levels. Though played on a smaller court with a different paddle and 20 percent deflated tennis balls, POP Tennis is otherwise scored and regulated like traditional tennis. POP Tennis is played on the courts to the left of the Main Clubhouse on Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday mornings from 8 to 10 am (spring/summer hours). Additionally, there is a group that plays Tuesday and Thursday afternoons at 3 pm and Tuesday, Thursday, and Sunday evenings from 6 to 8 pm. People are free to come and go as their schedules permit. All are welcome and there are always friendly folks to teach beginners the game! Paddles and balls are provided too. For more information or to be on a decision-making committee, please feel free to contact Carl Miller at (951) 512-3131. **All regular POP players are asked to get their $10 membership fee to Jeanne McGuire. The dues are used to plan parties, tournaments and buy balls and paddles. Hope you'll POP by! On a Sunday evening near the end of the regular season, the premier sports channel, ESPN, was broadcasting an MLB game. The Dodgers were in Atlanta and, as is their custom, the booth announcers had mic'd up one of the stars mid-game. Mookie Betts was being interviewed from his post in right field. Amid a routine Q&A, the Dodger all-star veered from baseball to extol his newest passion: pickleball. The change of topic may have seemed to some viewers to come from left field. But those fans who appreciate Betts can understand he is an athlete of many interests and is outstanding in everything he pursues. Pickleball players especially will realize why someone of his accomplishment would be drawn to America's hottest sport. This is what he volunteered: "The cool thing is you can be anywhere from 10 to 80 and play pickleball. I've got lots of friends, random 70 and 80-year-old people, I go hang out with, especially in spring training. I have a crew. I don't know any of 'em, I don't know any of their names, but I just go hang out with them. It's fun." We often feature in this page stories of great athletes taking avidly to our game. And Mookie is simply the latest in that growing list of celebrities embracing pickle. It was a kick to hear him spread the gospel of our beloved recreation, especially the chance this affords a world- class competitor to mingle joyously with people twice his age, or more. This again underscores the appeal of our sport. It's multi-generational to the max. It would be fun to learn how many of those Arizonans have any idea they are playing with one of the most gifted and highly-paid people on the planet? Perhaps only in pickleball can those seniors near the Dodger training facility in Glendale even be on the same court with the likes of a superstar. Evidently, Mookie doesn't wear out his welcome with his new playmates. And just maybe, while he is still learning, they can truly compete with a world-class athlete. Only in pickleball… If you haven't yet been introduced to this fun pastime or to our club vice-president Judy Luna, give her a call at (949) 929-2390. She can steer you to the best times to give Mookie Betts' new "jam" a try. See you on the courts! Pickleball Club