Final polish placed on Palm Ridge pickleball courts

Larry Masteller can barely contain his excitement.

“We’re ecstatic. We’re excited. We’re overjoyed,” he said. “Use whatever word you want to use ... we’ve been waiting a long time for this.”

The Sun City West Pickleball Club president said he and the rest of the pickleball players are eagerly anticipating the grand opening of a pickleball complex at Palm Ridge Recreation Center and everything it will mean to the sport.

“Hopefully this is just the start,” he said. “Once the people see what pickleball is all about we expect quite an influx of players. We think the number of players will continue to go up. And by the end of next year we expect way more than the 460 members we had at the end of 2009.”

The 10-court complex will be unveiled at a grand opening event at 10 a.m. Friday.

Paint jobs on the 10 new courts on the west side of Palm Ridge, 13800 W. Deer Valley Drive, will be completed by Wednesday — the last step in a three-month construction process.

When combined with the pickleball courts at R.H. Johnson Recreation Center, the total number of pickleball courts in Sun City West will be 15.

The RCSCW will provide coffee and doughnuts from 9:30 to 10 a.m. to kick off the celebration, followed by a ribbon-cutting ceremony at 10. A pickleball demonstration featuring Sun City West Pickleball Club medal winners from the USA National Tournament will be from 10:10 to 10:40 a.m.

After the demonstration residents can take part in two different activities: a how-to clinic on courts 7 through 10 for those who want to learn the fundamentals; and “Pickleball Carnival” on courts 1 through 6, featuring simple pickleball activities and the opportunity to win a prize based on points accumulated during event play.

Members of the Pickleball Club will compete in a club competition from 1 to 3 p.m. Guests are encouraged to watch the players in action. From 5 to 7 p.m., the club will have drop-in play so the players can experience the new lighting system at the courts.