At the end of last summer, I was looking for new things to do and distractions when I was going through a rough time. I had learned about a volleyball league at the Tucson Racquet and Fitness Club that a couple of my friends were playing in on a weekly basis, so I decided to give that a try. I am very bad at volleyball, I never played in my life but a few casual games with friends here and there, so playing in a competitive league was a bad idea. I quickly felt out of place, like I wasn't helping the team but hurting it, so after a few weeks I decided to call it quits.
But I was still looking for activities to do. While it's true that I still shoot pool on Mondays and Tuesday and bowl on Thursdays, those were sports (are they more games than sports?) that I was already very nestled in, I wanted a change of scenery. A few of my friends suggested I give pickleball a try. I played a few games and also was very bad, I had never played tennis growing up and just some ping-pong games with family here and there. Nonetheless, I enjoyed playing it enough and was interested if there would be some leagues in my area.
Turns out that the Tucson Racquet and Fitness Club, the same place where my friends were playing volleyball, had weekly leagues on multiple nights of the week. I decided to give it a try on Wednesdays, joining the Mixed Ladder League that was open to all skill levels Beginner and up and on average it suggested Intermediate. I didn't know anyone going into the league. After a few weeks of learning with friends, I entered myself as a 2.5 based on a chart similar to the one found on this site.
The league is about 60 players and each session spans a period of 6 weeks. It's very welcoming and I enjoyed how I get matched up against players of similar skill level. Each week, you get put in a group of 4 players, where you'll play a total of 6 games of Doubles (2 versus 2), with 2 games per teammate to ensure that you get to play with and against everyone in the group. I really enjoy the format, it seems pretty balanced. It's also a ladder system, where each person scores their own points, with a max of 11 points per game and a theoretical max of 66 for the whole night. If you score a lot of points, you'll move up in the ladder and play tougher opponents the next week. If you score few points, you'll move down and play weaker opponents the next week. Here's an example of how the format goes for a given night.
In the above example, the players that are shaded would pair up with each other and serve to the other team. So in Game 1, players A & D start with the serve to B & C and scored 11-5. Then B & C start with the serve to A & D in Game 2, losing 7-11. In Game 3, A & C are paired up against C & D, and so forth. At the end, you can see that Player D scored the most points and is "King/Queen of the Court" that night.
I would say Pickleball is a very beginner-friendly game, it's easy to play and welcoming to all ages and genders. In this league I'll find myself matched up with all kinds of people from young players in their twenties to seniors who are 60+ and I feel like there's a good balance of men and women in the league. There really is no discrimination in who can play, which is something I love.
Since I've joined the league, I've invested in the gear, picking up some Adidas court shoes, several Nike sportswear shirts and pants, and I've even invested in a carbon fiber paddle sponsored by my favorite professional player and bought myself a nice combination cooler + pickleball bag.
Since August of last year, I have been playing pretty much every Wednesday. The league will run 6 weeks and then have one off week, so I do get a little rest, but it's pretty much my weekly routine now. I would rate myself around a 3.25 right now, which is fine for me considering how bad I was when I started. I think I can become high-intermediate in time, but it's already worth it for the weekly workout and camaraderie of meeting people.
So yep, keeping busy during the weeknights with a league of some sort every Monday through Thursday! 😊
