Tucson Marathon, HOA, Pickle Ball, Feel the Joy

My wife’s niece and her husband just ran the Tucson Marathon. I dropped them off at the Biosphere 2 to start, and I was there at the end along with a couple times in between. Running a marathon amazes me. I have done a number of centuries [100 miles or more on a bike] but could never do a marathon.

Watching my niece and her husband along with all the runners cross the finish line with expressions of pure joy is really cool. Of course, part of the joy for marathons is based on B.F. Skinner’s behaviorism theory which is basically one keeps hitting their thumb with a hammer because it feels so good to have the pain go away.

I know this feeling of joy. I have had it many times when finishing a bike tour, getting to the top of a mountain pass or riding a century. I also felt it cross country skiing and down hill skiing, though in down hill skiing, it was mostly relief at getting to the bottom in one piece.

Back in the day, I found this feeling of joy playing tennis and racquetball. Though not to the same degree as finishing a long ride, most recent recently I found this feeling of joy playing pickle ball. This coming January will be the two year anniversary of the first time I played PB. What makes it special for me is the previous year, I went out of remission with my long-term battle with a kidney disease. I was surprised to even be around in January, 2023 and even more surprised to find a new sport I enjoyed. I plan to host a party on the anniversary and invite the people who may like me and hopefully one of the two will be available.

Pickle ball was started in 1965 by a bunch of neighbors in a suburb of Seattle who invented the sport as a family activity which was easy to learn and fun to play. The growth was gradual until the past few years when pickle ball exploded. In 2020 it was estimated that about 4.2 million people played pickle ball. A 2023 study done by the Association of Pickle ball Professionals found that 48.5 million have played pickle ball at least once in the previous 12 months with the majority playing weekly or more often. It is the fastest growing sport in the US and with the average age of players now being about 35, the popularity of the sport will continue to increase. In short, I am not the only one who has found joy in pickle ball.

I am thankful my AZ HOA had good pickle ball facilities and an active PB club. For the record, any HOA that is promoting itself as an active living community which is not expanding its pickle ball facilities and opportunities will fall behind HOA communities which do. Don’t believe me, review the growth of PB outlined above.

I regularly play pickle ball in four different places, my HOAs in MN and AZ, The People’s Courts in Portland, OR and LifeTime Fitness primarily in the Twin Cities but also Phoenix.

The reason PB has grown so fast is its easy to learn, good exercise, and most important, fun. Everyplace I have played I have had fun.

In all honesty, to often I get mad at myself when I make mistakes [unforced error] while playing. At those times, I have to remember I am lucky to still be here and should return to feeling the joy. I never get mad at my partner when they make a mistake. Everyone, at all levels is doing the best they can and want to enjoy the sport.

As with most sports or activities, there are a couple of people that will suck out all the joy. In PB this often is in the form of unwanted coaching during play by the partner. This is incredibly annoying and rarely helpful. Often, these players could not coach a thirsty camel to drink water in the desert. In any sport of activity including PB be supportive and encouraging and if someone has questions or needs help, they will ask.

Unfortunately my AZ HOA is going through a self-inflicted difficult time. As I understand, out of the 500+ members of the PB club, a small percentage want to form a competitive team or teams.

Before going any further, it is important to note the most expensive place I play is at the AZ HOA. LifeTime has a monthly fee, The Peoples Court is pay as you play. To play in the HOAs to which I belong you have to buy a residence, pay HOA fees, and pay taxes along with insurance. In AZ, I am pleased part of my HOA fees go to supporting the many clubs and activities that exist on our campus. I want everyone to find the joy in their activity or interests. This makes the HOA an active living community and maintains if not increases market values of residences.

At the same time, I would not be happy if non-residents were able to be in our clubs or use our facilities without paying fees commensurate with what I pay as an owner.

I have been told one of the teams being formed does not feel it can find enough quality players in our HOA to have a competitive team, at least in their minds, so they want to bring in outside players. For me, there is no controversy here. All team members must be a resident of the HOA. The entire HOA [all owners], paid for the development and ongoing maintenance of the courts. Like any other HOA, though there are limited guest exemptions, the PB courts are for the use of residents only. Non-owner team members are not an exception.

The other question is should a HOA PB Club allow competitive teams which are made of up HOA residents only. For me, this is different. Currently, there are three levels of play, learning clinics, along with mandatory open play. In my estimation, any court time during the busy season should be first allocated to the three levels of play along with clinics, then open play and finally teams with only SCOV players would be last in line to get court time.

When my two year PB anniversary hits next month, I will be thankful for still being around and the opportunity to play and enjoy PB. For those who are playing PB, regardless of the level, feel the joy, none of us know what tomorrow will bring. For those thinking about starting PB, please do so. It’s easy to learn [ I do the beginner clinics in AZ], good exercise, and fun.

And in whatever activities you do, feel the joy.