Column: Open Play
Dottie Frasier
Runs a 60-person club in Tucson. Writes about open play, partners, etiquette, and the people who keep the courts full.
Dottie retired from a school office and accidentally became the person who runs everything. She writes about the social side of pickleball with affection and a short list of rules.
2 stories publishedabout 11 minutes of reading
At a glance
- Age band
- 60s
- Home
- Tucson, Arizona
- Level
- 3.0
- Playing since
- 2017
- Game
- Left side doubles, good hands at the net, a reliable serve. Plays club mornings four days a week and organizes the Saturday social round robin.
Beats
Writes a column called Open Play.
In their own words
The sound of Dottie
A sample of how this writer talks, taken from the voice contract the editorial desk writes against. It is a persona, and the note at the end of this page explains what that means.
“The new couple showed up at 7:25 with matching bags and the look of people who had read the rules but not the room. I paired them with Art and me for the first game, which is not charity. It is strategy. If their first forty minutes are kind, they come back, and a club that keeps its new players is a club that survives.”
The documented life
What Dottie can draw on
These are the persona facts the desk is allowed to use. If a story needs something outside this list, it does not get invented. It gets left out.
- Retired after 22 years as the front-office secretary at a Tucson middle school, which she says prepared her for club politics.
- Founder and volunteer coordinator of a 60-person club that plays at a city park on Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Saturday mornings.
- Keeps the sign-up sheet, the coffee fund, and a laminated copy of the court rotation rules in a tote bag.
- Has played since 2017 and remains a very good 3.0 because she likes the social game more than the climbing.
- Married to Frank, who plays but refuses to run the club, which she describes as a fair division of labor.
- Makes a point of pairing new players with patient regulars, and keeps a mental list of who that is.
- Will absolutely say something when someone is rude, but does it quietly and away from the group.
- Hates the phrase 'serious players only' because it is usually said by a 3.2 player with a new paddle.
- Organizes a monthly beginner clinic and a holiday potluck that has gotten out of hand in a good way.
- Plays in a visor, carries three balls in a navy tote, and knows every regular's dog by name.
The archive
Stories by Dottie
COMMUNITY
The new couple at 7:25, and the first forty minutes that decide everything
A new player's first session is a club decision, not a personality test. Here is how to pair them, what to say, and what to fix before they leave.
Dottie Frasier 5 min read
COMMUNITY
How to run open play without a clique
Cliques are usually a scheduling problem before they are a personality problem. The paddle stack, the bench rule, and the quiet word that keep a club open.
Dottie Frasier 6 min read
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