Veterans Memorial Park — Attraction in Winter Garden

too long didn’t read: If you are a new player, just go the Cady Way Pool courts in winter park. They are much friendlier people, with a queue system that is significantly friendlier to large groups and new players. If you are an experienced group of two, or don’t mind being separated into groups of two, then this court could be right for you.

This park is great for pickle ball if you are experienced, but is very unfriendly to beginners and groups of more than 2. The regulars of the courts, at least on the recreational side, have instituted a “winner stays” rule which they claim is a park rule, but is not actually listed explicitly anywhere on the rule signs around the courts, and if it is, is not at all clear and should be changed. This rule means that whoever wins their game is allowed to play another, and if they win a second they split. The losing team immediately rejoins the queue. It appeared to me that most people simply left the court rather than be split from their teammate, but I was not informed of any rule that forbade a player who continued to win consecutively from simply playing until they left of their own volition.

While this practice is nice in theory, since it allows players to “go on a roll”, in reality it means that better players monopolize the courts for 2-3 games in a row at minimum, whereas newer and casual players will simply be stomped consistently and have to rejoin the queue having only played one game. New players will maybe get 3 games in an hour if the park is slow, and in my experience, it never is.

This practice also means that a group of 3 or 4 players, new or experienced, who simply want to play against each other or learn slowly with friends, do not have the opportunity to do so. They will be split into two groups of two and pitted against the winner of the game that recently ended, which means any group of 3 or 4 will have difficulty actually playing against each other unless they can stay on the court long enough for their friends to be at the front of the queue right as they win their match.

Any attempt to bring this issue to attention is aggressively shut down, and any attempt to further argue it’s inherent inequity will be met with rhetoric along the lines of “you’re being rude, the rule is on the sign, how dare you take that time with me”, as you will inevitably raise your voice or take a harsher tone as they refuse to accept that their house rules are flawed. They are not interested in enacting a queue system that is fair to everyone at all levels of play, but instead in monopolizing court space for as long as they can in what I can only assume is an attempt to de incentivize new players from coming to this particular park and taking court time...

On a little Family Vacation in Orlando and I found an incredible park to play Pickle Ball…

Veteran's Memorial Park in Winter Park… Open Play and put your paddle in the rotation… It was nice and orderly… The play and competition was incredible with all levels…

The people were extremely friendly and welcoming… Would recommend to play for sure and can’t wait to return the park next time down here in Orlando… I give it 5...

Super fun place to play. Felt welcoming. We started on recreational side not knowing there were two sides. The other is competitive. After playing a couple games we moved to competitive side and it was also fun and welcoming too! Would definitely play here again. 10 total courts. No fences between them so balls often come onto your court from others. They rotate courts and winners stay on. Fun to play...