Submitted by:
Morris Wheat
Ambassador - At- Large
Atlantic South Region
Our Resort (Indian Creek Resort) is owned by a company called Sun Communities. A good share of the properties acquired are affordable housing parks and the land is rented to the home owner. Our Resort is one of the more attractive properties of Sun Communities with a wealth of activities. It initially was a mobile home park n. As the years went by people liked it here and anchored down their trailers. The residents were and still are very active and Square dancing was a big draw to this park as the hall could accommodate 24 squares. Now the old trailers are being taken out and Mobile homes (double wides) of around 800 sq feet are being installed for sale and for rent. There still are a few RV sites left and these sites are a good way for the company to introduce people to the resort in hopes that they might buy or rent a unit and stay.
Indian Creek Resort (the name was changed from park) is located at 17340 San Carlos Boulevard, Fort Myers Beach, Florida 33931 and is managed by Kathy Claprood. The resort has many facilities and they are constantly being maintained and improved. There are three pools one which is lighted. There are three different halls one with smaller rooms for various activities. There is an Activity Director that has responsibility to bring in shows and direct other big activities. A major portion of the activity work is done by resident volunteers.
The major sports activities are Tennis (5 Courts), shuffle board, Bocci Ball, Horse shoes, Pickleball (soon to be three courts), Radio controlled sail boat racing, table tennis, billiards (8 tables), exercise room, and Volley ball (3 courts). Of course there is wood carving, quilting, sewing, many different card games and Mah Jongg. There is a library too. The residents of the park partake in many charitable programs and there are many fun events and dancing. I may have over looked some things such as the weekly bike ride in the Resort where participation sometimes get up to over 230 riders. The weather usually is very good and this season it have been great. The population of the Resort during the season is around 3,400 although there are a number of residents that call this Resort home all year around.
Okay now to the subject of Pickleball. Pickleball started in the park back around 2005 using wooden paddles and a temporary net playing on a very unsafe concrete surface. A small group of players, having a keen interest in the sport, went to management asking for a place to play. The manager understood the need and declared one tennis court to be used in limited number of hours on three days of the week. Of course this did not please the tennis players as lines were painted on the court to make two Pickleball courts. This worked for two years but management fielded many complaints from tennis players and a resident that lived next to court 5. In 2007 this same small group of players, now called a committee, went to management to ask for real pickleball courts. Management agreed and for the 2008 season established a budgeted item for Pickleball courts. Two courts were built in 2008 by a company named NIDY. The courts were great but the problem was our group of players had grown substantially causing some problems of court utilization. It was evident that more courts were required. For the past 4 years the Pickleball committee has been busy trying to make the two courts work for all the players while asking management to add two more courts as the original plans indicated. There have been many persons that have come to this Resort primarily because we have Pickleball but find all the other activities rewarding too.
Pickleball today at this resort is very actively played by well over 120 players. We have internal Resort tourneys twice a month mixed doubles, men's doubles, women's doubles. We have been having a clinic put on by Randy Hall for our players improvement and knowledge on how to play. The courts are used from early morning each day until sundown. The present elected committee has made some changes in court usage and this season we have had very few confrontations by the players. The aspect of a third court next season may help in providing the time to play for many of the players as with only two courts the wait time can be quite long. To control "who is next to play" we have a rack to hang the paddles giving a bit of control. We do have some court times during the day where one court is reserved.
We have lessons for beginners two days each month. Class is limited due to lack of courts available to play on. If lights were added this would substantially improve playing time and extend the play into the cooler evening hours especially for the year around residents. The Resort is listed on the USAPA.org web site for places to play at Fort Myers Beach. Residents may invite guests to play Pickleball as long as the guests are registered at the Resort office.
Many of the resort's players participate in Senior games in our area. This past weekend the Lee County senior games were played at the Wa-ke Hatchee facility and a number of our Resort players won medals.
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