NPBC Family Life Center

First-time visitors to the 40-acre North Phoenix  Baptist Church complex might have  hard time finding the pickleball facilities  The courts are located in the Family Life Center (FLC) in the south east portion of the complex.

The Family Life Center (FLC) of The North Phoenix Baptist Church (NPBC) operates a top notch four-court pickleball facility at 5757 N. Central Ave.  The FLC is about as centrally located as possible in The Valley. You do not have to be a member of the NPBC to play at the facility.

Jackie Switzer is the Program Director in charge  of
the FLC pickleball courts.  Jackie's a great player and
who brings a lot of enthusiasm and skill to the  court.

As is almost always the case with indoor pickleball facilities, the permanent courts lines are overlaid on pre-existing basketball courts.  FLC's gym features a delightful and seldom seen parquet wood gym floor.  The gym is a very large structure so the pickleball courts are not cramped.  A large retractable curtain separates each pair of courts.

The FLC is part of the NPBC multi-building complex that sits on 40 acres at the southeast corner of Central Ave. and Bethany Home Road.  The main church building itself was completed in 1977 and seats 5,000 people.  FLC administrator decided to venture into pickleball in 2016 and admitted players free during the first year.  A fee is expected to be charged in 2017 but the amount has not yet been set as of mid-December 2016.  FLC has paddles and balls to loan to players.  The Onix nets are in pristine condition and well cared for.

Here is the FLC Pickleball webpage: http://nphx.org/family-life-center-pickle-ball/

And here is the general website for FLC: http://nphx.org/about-the-family-life-center/

We played in the FLC facility on December 15.  We arrived shortly after 10 AM and there were no other players.  We practiced together for about 30 minutes and then packed up to depart.  As we were walking out of the gym, numerous players arrived so we stayed and played until shortly after noon.

We played several fun games with John from the Washington D.C.  vicinity and Candy, a local woman active in Greyhound dog rescue. FLC Program Director Jackie joined us for one game as well.

All-in-all, we were very impressed with the FLC pickleball facility.  It is easily accessible off of SR 51 or the Black Canyon Freeway (I-17).  We look forward to playing there again and we hope FLC administrators keep the admission price in the $2 range.  That's what the  City of Phoenix charges for all its many community centers.  Some pickleball facilities have begun charging $4 and $5 per person.  Given a choice between playing at Venue A for $2 or Venue B for $4-5, we will always gravitate to Venue A.

Since we are "traveling" pickleball players, we will never be able to play on a regular basis at most all the locations we visit.  So, we can't justify annual or semi-annual membership fees.  If the one-time, drop-in fees reach the $8-$10 per couple price point, it will preclude occasional players such as ourselves from participating in fine facilities like the FLC pickleball courts.

Here is the screen clip of the FLC's listing on the USAPA's "Places To Play" website:

Camp Verde Pickleball

(Edited 12/17/16) Camp Verde Parks & Recreation's inaugural pickleball games were played December 1, 2016 in the Community Center Gym.  The facility was once the high school gym and the basketball floor has been lovingly maintained for many decades.

Below the photos is a narrative of the December 1st event.

Since we published this post, we created s stabd-alone blog for Camp Verde Pickleball.  It contains a "History" post that details the day Camp Verde's first pickleball games were played.

Here is the main blog:  http://campverdepickleball.blogspot.com/

And here is the "History" post: http://campverdepickleball.blogspot.com/2016/12/history.html

Pickleball Whirlwind

We've had quite the pickleball whirlwind since our last post on this blog.  The day after Thanksgiving, we ttried to play pickleball at the Fountain Hill courts and also once again at the Red Mountain Center.  We came up empty handed at both venues.

Saturday we scoped out  Kleinman Park at 8th Ave. and Extension in Mesa, Arizona.  Rumor has it that a pickleball complex will be built there.

Susun returned from SOCAL Sunday and we played atd the Paradise Valley Community Center Monday morning.  Tuesday, we signed on to the Cottonwood Rec Center and played there.

Wednesday our pickleball net and two more paddles arrived at the Post Office.  So, we spent late Wednesday afternoon marking court corners on the Camp Verde Community Center gym floor.

We left home at 7:45 AM Thursday and worked feverihly to get the full court marked at the Camp Verde gym.  Then we enjoyed two hours of pickleball with various  Dear Friends who came to the town's firt game.

As of 6:30 AM Friday, we're planning to play in Cottonwood again today.  Each of the above aactivitiesreally needs its own blog post.

Gene Autry Tennis Center

On November 22, 2016, we found a very sweet pickleball court tucked into an unobtrusive corner of a sprawling urban tennis complex in Mesa, Arizona.  The Gene Autry Sports Complex has more tennis courts than the eye can count but only one pickleball court.

The court is totally fenced and gated and was recently resurfaced and striped.  A practice wall was spruced up with a white line representing the pickleball net height. A very expensive wheeled net is provided.  There is nary a crack or other imperfection on the new surface of the court.

Amazingly, this court can be rented for a mere $5 an hour.  That's it.  No other fees.  And get this--you can reserve the court in advance at your choice of time and date!  And there's no reservation fee added to the court cost.  The Tennis Center is staffed with super friendly, gregarious people every weekday from 8-5 so it's easy to reserve or just drop in and see if the court is open.  Or you can email or call.

We went to the Center the day before Thanksgiving at 2 PM and paid our five bucks and had this sweet court all to ourselves.  After warming up on the wall, we played four full games.  Of course, Susun won all four games, three by a wide margin.

We used USAPA-regulation outdoor pickleballs and they performed nicely on the court surface.  Having a full perimeter fence made it wonderfully easy to recover stray pickleballs.

There is only one distraction on this court.  The court is in the landing pattern for nearby Falcon Field.  That airport is heavily used by student pilots practicing touch and go landings.  Their little single engine prop planes fly low over the court on their final approach to the runway.  We actually liked seeing the the aircraft but the engine noise could be annoying to some players.

Our one hour at the Gene Autry Court was some of our highest quality pickleball playing time experienced so far in our young pickleball careers.  We highly recommend this court.  It's like having your own exclusive, private, resort-style pickleball court!

Above is the view of the court from the parking lot.  We parked our truck here so it would be in our full view while we played.  We didn't even bother to lock the truck.

We walked just about every square foot of the court looking for surface imperfections.  The only crack in the surface aligns perfectly with the position of the net and serves as a convenient marker for how and where to palce the net.

Here's a look at the first-class practice wall.  Four people at once could easily warm up on this wall.

Here's a photo of the expensive wheeled net.  The net is very easy to move and each of the wheels has a lock you can activate with your foot so the net won't wiggle or move during play.

The outdoor lounge area of The Gene Autry Tennis Center.

You access the pickleball court by entering the lobby/lounge area of the Tennis Center and then go through a door to the patio.  The pickleball net is a short stroll from the office.

Red Mountain Center - Mesa

Blog purpose

The purpose of this blog is to describe the various Arizona locations we have visited to check out pickleball possibilities.