The Villages

Retirement or pickleball heaven...

Last weekend I visited friends in The Villages, Florida. They are pickleball players and I was anxious to check out the reported enthusiasm and courts in the "city". It was all true. I was there for 3 nights and 2 days. In those 2 days, I played at 3 different facilities. Don't even think about asking me which of the 50 or so sites that have courts - they all looked alike to me.

Each set of courts on which I played had 6 courts - 2 rows of 3 courts each. The rows were divided by a net but there was no divider between the 3 courts in each row. That resulted in a lot of play stoppages but it was nothing I wasn't used to.

It was easy to play. Just walk onto the court and find the end of the line. When a game finishes, the next 4 in line move onto the court. I will admit that it was easy because my friends knew which courts would be appropriate for my skill level. It is my understanding that players not meeting the competitive challenge at the particular courts are urged to find a more appropriate court.

It was a pleasure to play pickleball at The Villages. Folks were welcoming and open...with one exception. Don't expect to play with any ball but the Dura. One player brought an Onix ball and was told to put it away.