Pickleball courts open at Sun City Aliante

Under the hot Las Vegas sun, four players vie in pairs during a friendly game of pickleball at the new Sun City Aliante court set to host this year’s Nevada Senior Games Pickleball Tournament.

The tournament, which is scheduled Oct. 6-8, will be held for the first time at Sun City Aliante’s new sports complex, 7394 Aliante Parkway.

“It’s similar to tennis, but players play closer together,” said Bob Ziegler, chairman and coordinator of the Sun City Aliante Pickball Club at the master-planned community. “As you get older, your joints can’t handle what they used to. Pickleball is really easy on the body.”

Ziegler, a former racquetball player, said the game is 50 percent mental, and it is age- and gender-neutral. He started playing the game three years ago when he began to have rotator cuff problems.

“Although it started with seniors, now other age groups are getting involved with the sport,” Ziegler said.

Pickleball was started by U.S. Congressman Joel Pritchard in the mid-1960s when he heard his family was bored during a summer vacation, according to the USA Pickleball Association’s website.

Their property had an old badminton court, so when Pritchard and friend Bill Bell couldn’t find the necessary equipment to play, they improvised and started playing with pingpong paddles and a perforated plastic ball. They eventually lowered the net to 36 inches, and pickleball was born.

The game combines elements of badminton, tennis and pingpong.

Although the ball is softer than a tennis ball, Ziegler said players need to be careful as it could still leave bruises.

Pickleball is played either as doubles or singles. Points are scored only by the serving team, and the game is normally played to 11 points.

“We originally started using the tennis courts for pickleball (at Sun City Aliante),” Ziegler said. “Soon, it started getting really popular, and we began to outnumber the tennis players. We decided to look into opening our own pickleball court.”

The sports complex at the master-planned community held its grand opening last month, just in time to prepare for the tournament.

It has eight pickleball courts and two tennis courts and was built on post-tensioned concrete.

“I’m addicted to pickleball,” said Charlie Ziegler, Bob Ziegler’s wife. “It’s good exercise, and it’s a fun and social event.”

Bob Ziegler said approximately 230 people from all across the country and Canada have registered, although he expects approximately 500 people to visit throughout the tournament days. He said the location is ideal because the Aliante, movie theaters, strip mall, golf course and pools are nearby.

The tournament is set to feature men’s doubles and women’s singles, women’s doubles and men’s singles and mixed doubles. Games are set to start at 8 a.m.

“This is the first pickleball court in North Las Vegas,” said Don Schaefer, president of the Sun City Aliante Board. “The project took us 1 1/2 years to complete and cost $450,000 to build, but it will be worth it. A lot of people looking to move want to know if a pickleball court is part of our amenities.”

For more information, visit usapa.org.

Contact North View reporter Sandy Lopez at slopez@viewnews.com or 702-383-4686. Find her on Twitter: @JournalismSandy.