Tuesday, June 15, 2021 (Court Day #385)

On Sunday afternoon, my wife and I drove to San Diego to visit her mom for a few days. We’ll be driving back tomorrow. Last night, I posted on the Pickleball Forum on Facebook that I was looking for a Tuesday morning game around San Diego. The internet can sometimes move at lightening speed and this was one of those times. I had two responses in short order. One was from a man named Al Lim. He mentioned that there is play everyday at MacKenzie Creek Park though folks tend to clear out some by 11 a.m. due to the heat. He said if I arrived at 8 a.m., I’d get into a game. Though he said he’d played a lot the last few days and so he wouldn’t be there.

I arrived at MacKenzie Creek Park at 8 a.m. It was already warm. The sun was peeking out, then hidden by a welcome high cloud, then back out again. 

The view as you walk up to the great MacKenzie Creek Park courts. Lynn is the one in pink.

I walked in and a few of the courts were still empty. I introduced myself to a tall woman—the only player not in a game right then—who said her name was Lynn. I mentioned that Al had directed me to the venue here. She pointed to a court and said they’d be finishing soon and we could get a game there. She asked what level I play. I told her, “I had shoulder surgery in October and I’m playing left-handed, but I’m decent. I won a gold medal lefty, but it was in 3.0”, me shrugging off the medal. She said, “3.0, ok”.

Lynn, Tess, Bong

Lynn and I played against a woman named Tess and a very fit Filipino man, Bong. Lynn and I lost, maybe 11-5 or thereabouts. It would take me a couple of games to get rolling.

We rotated players with Tess and me playing against Lynn and Bong. We won that one.

A shorter man in a bright blue shirt strolled in between points. Lynn called over to him, “Al! This is your charge!” I waved. So Al was coming anyway, great! Al waved and said hello.

Our next game Bong and me versus Tess and Lynn. Bong and I won pretty handily.

A stocky man named Tony joined our game, Tess had to leave. I overheard Lynn explaining that I was playing left handed due to surgery but I was “pretty good”. Tony plays in a misleading lazy, carefree style but has power and spin. Bong and I won again but it was bit tougher of a game.

Al, Jose, Mark

I was next in a game with Al against Mark and Jose. Al may be 74 (as he said on Facebook) or 75 (as he told me today), but he’s in good shape and can smack the ball. I was surprised and impressed given his years. Mark and Jose were both strong intermediate players. We had a few long—maybe 15-20 hits—rallies with dinking battles.

Al and I lost three times. 11-6 for the last one. But those were very fun and back-and-forth great games.

Al needed to take off but told me, “Let me know when you are back. I’ll play with you.” Sounds like I didn’t make a bad impression.

Jose, Mark, Al, and me. I’m sporting my aging Santa Cruz Pickleball Club cap.

Jose said a handful of the people there are racquetball players like himself who weren’t allowed to play indoors during COVID restrictions so they have been playing pickleball instead. He pointed out Mark and some others.

The Other Jose

Later, I played with a tall older man named Jose against Jose and a Latina woman with an “L” name. Jose and pulled out to a strong lead but I was playing thinking, “it’s fun sometimes to play a leisurely game against less strong players” but then we let them catch up then win. Oops. That happens sometimes when you don’t take a game as seriously. Right?

Tall Jose explained that the beautiful courts were done in the last year. They had been tennis courts but they weren’t getting used much, so the pickleball players got together and came up with money with the city to redo them as pickleball courts. Judging from today, a very warm day that even the locals complained about the heat, it was a successful and meaningful change.

Xato and Tony

The last game was a shorter older man with a thick Mexican accent named Xato (“chay-toe”) and me against Tony and a man whose name I forget. We were very much outclassed. We lost something like 11-4.

My wife had texted about lunch plans with her mom and her mom’s best friend. It was time to go. There were a few empty courts.

The view as I left at 11:10. Some empty courts.

And?

This was a great venue. Good players, new courts. I hope to be back!


Number of days on a court: 385
Number of total hours: 1,090.5

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