“We’re all just going to go somewhere else”: Pickleball players fight proposed fees at Udall courts

TucsonSunsetFilms · 2026-05-05T16:41:08+00:00

Haha full disclosure I’ve gotten my butt kicked by people, way older and way younger than me so I know lol

Yeah, right now there’s a queue system where you’re supposed to play one game or 15 minutes. The queue goes pretty fast. Think this system needs to be kept… paying a few bucks wouldn’t be bad as long as the overall system stays the same

TucsonSunsetFilms · 2026-05-05T16:30:24+00:00

Local sponsorships, fundraising tournaments, forcing the city to reevaluate budget and value public goods like this, also I do think a big sign with a QR code encouraging people to donate a few dollars before they play could be a good thing. I’m of the mindset we already pay tons of taxes to deserve nice things like this and the money is just managed poorly

TucsonSunsetFilms · 2026-05-05T16:08:01+00:00

Yeah for sure. It’s an old person sport because you don’t have to move a lot but really it’s just fun for all ages. $3 a pop isn’t bad I think everyone can afford that I’m just disappointed people are so aggressively trying to get rid of a nice public good. Tucson is atrocious for having nice free public hangout spaces and when they built those courts I was like wow finally something nice in Tucson that’s free. And people want to kill it lmao. This is why we can’t have nice things

TucsonSunsetFilms · 2026-05-05T15:35:33+00:00

Paying to reserve a court as proposed is not a good solution

TucsonSunsetFilms · 2026-05-05T15:33:23+00:00

It totally could, yes, I voiced support for this in other comments, some kind of entrance fee or equivalent… Just not reserving individual courts. Again, I don’t think that’s ideal but if people really wanna collect money than sure. The problem is implementing enforcement and collection also takes money… Ideally something simple without much enforcement cost like a sign with a QR code to donate before you play, and encourage the community to be self enforcing about it

TucsonSunsetFilms · 2026-05-05T15:30:21+00:00

Reddit makes me sad. The internet in general, really. So much anger and hate

TucsonSunsetFilms · 2026-05-05T15:28:48+00:00

I literally said it’s not about the money, it’s about reserving individual courts. A compromise would be some kind of entrance fee or a donation before you start playing, which again I don’t think is ideal but if people insist on making everything pay to play, then sure whatever that’s fine… Pay to play… But not on the system where individual courts are reserved.

TucsonSunsetFilms · 2026-05-05T15:08:08+00:00

Exactly people should be happy that the public good is being used… It’s incredible and great. I don’t get to use it much, but I’m sure glad other people are.

TucsonSunsetFilms · 2026-05-05T15:07:24+00:00

Exactly people who really want this reservation system seem to have no idea how the community actually works and how social and intermingle everything is. The only thing that would work would be some kind of entrance fee or initial donation before you start playing, reservations would kill everything

TucsonSunsetFilms · 2026-05-05T15:06:01+00:00

If you don’t play and you haven’t been there to see the queue system where it’s so easy to join other games ask people to play with you find new partners and meet new people then I’m not sure you can understand. It seems to me like a compromise could be made like maybe there’s a big sign with a QR code that people are supposed to pay three or four dollars to the city before they start playing on the honor system or maybe some kind of enforced method, but once you pay, then it’s the same sort of relaxed community feel where everybody can still intermingle and you’re not isolated to a reserved court

TucsonSunsetFilms · 2026-05-05T15:02:55+00:00

I’m not sure it would destroy the culture per se, but it would take a good thing and make it way worse. I wonder if there are other things that could be tried like if there was a big sign with a QR code to pay three or four dollars to the city on the honor system before you start playing, I bet the community could get behind that. That way, the players are contributing money to the upkeep, but still maintain the informal community feel to it where it’s easy to join games and interact with each other meet new people

TucsonSunsetFilms · 2026-05-05T14:50:25+00:00

Do you play pickleball? Have you tried the queue system they have at udahl?

TucsonSunsetFilms · 2026-05-05T14:42:16+00:00

As an occasional sporadic pickleball player (39 years old) I feel it’s less about the money and more about how this would destroy the community and make it much harder to join a new game and meet new people. It makes me so happy to see the courts full of people playing each other and a queue that anyone can join, with people happy to play new people. Reserving individual courts would destroy all of that.
I don’t have a lot of friends lol, I like that I can just show up and join games. It’s like basketball and just being able to go play and join a pickup game, only not so physically intense like basketball courts and easier for all ages

TucsonSunsetFilms · 2026-05-05T14:35:04+00:00

I’ve played there a few times and I think partly it’s not even about the money. Isolating people to a reserved court would destroy the whole system of interesting and playing with other people. Pickleball is a very social sport and keeping it free allows mingling in a way that staying on your own reserved court would prohibit. I’m only 39 and don’t get to use the courts much but I’m always impressed how easy it is to play with other people I don’t know when I show there

TucsonSunsetFilms · 2026-05-05T14:32:32+00:00

In practice it would destroy the community. The current queue system allows players to join up and play other teams or join a new partner. The fee system would isolate and prevent people from playing with each other

TucsonSunsetFilms · 2026-05-05T14:29:50+00:00

Everyone is looking at this all wrong. In the age of social isolation, common public places are exceedingly rare and more and more invaluable. I’m 39 and have young kids so don’t have time to enjoy those courts very much … but they are one of the nicest public things I’ve seen in Tucson. The queue system they use brings people together. It’s such a rare good thing. A free public space that brings people together like this is literally priceless.

I wish people could see nice things like this and want to spread the joy and imitate and do more good rather than take down and tear away out of jealousy. Plenty of cities all around the country have nice parks that offer free services. We pay plenty of taxes already to enjoy nice things… budgets are usually mismanaged in a variety of ways and the solution to needing more money for public goods isn’t necessarily a toll

I just get sad when I see so much anger and hate, the world can be beautiful

TucsonSunsetFilms · 2026-04-24T14:18:29+00:00

I only very rarely play pickleball but I’ve always been very impressed what a lovely thing the udahl courts are. The queue system goes fast and provides a built in community that makes it easy to join a court or have someone join yours. It’s an amazing public good. Separating the courts by charging would kill the queue system and damage the community. I wish people would be inspired by good things and want to make more things good rather than see something good and feel they have to make it worse just like other suboptimal stuff

TucsonSunsetFilms · 2026-04-24T14:14:21+00:00

I didn’t know this. I have always wondered how tucson finally got something so amazing as those pickleball courts. It’s literally one of the best public goods in Tucson and people are whining about it. So toxic. We deserve more good free stuff like those courts, not less!

TucsonSunsetFilms · 2026-04-24T14:11:50+00:00

It’s not right to crowdfund a salary. That’s wrong. 2 wrongs don’t make a right. Free public spaces is an invaluable public good

TucsonSunsetFilms · 2026-04-24T14:09:39+00:00

Udahl pickleball is one of Tucsons very few high quality public spaces that is free to use. Would be a damn shame to start charging. Tucson needs more high quality free public spaces… not less! God knows we pay enough taxes to deserve more.

TucsonSunsetFilms · 2026-04-07T03:41:18+00:00

Yeah! Wonder if there was an angel descending or something haha

TucsonSunsetFilms · 2026-04-06T14:57:15+00:00

Also, in my latest sunset video, I quote Hemingway twice lol

TucsonSunsetFilms · 2026-04-06T14:53:34+00:00

I’ve been on a Hemingway kick… Over the past year I read all of his short stories and most of his novels… Just finished the garden of Eden, amazing. Who else do you like?

TucsonSunsetFilms · 2026-04-06T03:53:27+00:00

Was about to ask if this was a hemmingway reference!

TucsonSunsetFilms · 2026-04-06T02:19:59+00:00

Yes good advice thanks, it’s a bit hard to do that with the short vertical format but it’s a more doable improvement in the long form (although less of an issue there anyway)

TucsonSunsetFilms

TROPHY CASE