I would like to correct several misconceptions about the existence of a Sun City volleyball club.
As a regular winter participant of senior volleyball in Surprise as well as the more recent addition of a program at the Rio Vista Recreation Center in Peoria, I have never been aware of any organized indoor volleyball club in Sun City. Charles Peterson, listed as one of two contacts for the club, has never attended a session in Surprise or Peoria during my regular appearances at both venues during the winter months during the last eight years.
Although regular players have been added or stop attending during the past eight years, the programs in the past years have been discontinued during the spring and summer due to lack of participation when winter visitors leave. Year-round residents have been attempting to keep the programs operating during the spring and summer with very little success.
During the pre-COVID years, the organizer was Dawn Wakefield, a resident of Sun City West, who arranged for the Sun City West Tennis Club to sponsor the group. Currently, the organizer of the group, Bruce Rasche, is a resident of Ventana Lakes and is the only real contact for the group. I have a photo taken several years ago from a tournament in Tempe, two of the six participants — myself and Beth Jackson — were Recreation Centers of Sun City members, two were residents of Sun City West and two were residents of Sun City Grand.
Current participant ratios for the 10-20 active participants include at most six Sun City residents, almost entirely winter visitors and the rest split between the other Sun City developments, as well as a few from the surrounding cities of Peoria, Surprise, Goodyear and one regular participant from Buckeye. The growth and maintenance of these programs has been mostly through word of mouth. In addition, during the current year, the program in Surprise has been conducted only on Wednesdays due to lack of participation. Rasche attends and supervises only the program in Surprise. The primary contact persons for the Peoria sessions are residents of Peoria and Sun City West, who keep participants aware of attendance and availability mostly by word of mouth.
While there is an active group of water volleyball players at the Oakmont Center, 10725 W. Oakmont Drive, these activities are never conducted at an indoor facility.
It has been very frustrating to me that the false implication that there is a formal active group of indoor volleyball players in Sun City is very misleading to Sun City residents as well as the RCSC board and staff. It is my opinion that this misconception is being perpetrated by a small group of basketball players, who continue to lobby for an indoor gym for a very small group of Sun City participant, even to the extent of advocating demolishing existing pickleball courts, which are utilized by a club with more than 1,000 members.
I hope this information is not viewed as an attempt to attack any individuals personally. But merely to help correct misrepresentation of the amount of interest by Sun City residents in an indoor gym. I welcome any comments of discussion from any resident who wishes to refute this information.
Editor’s Note: We’d like to invite our readers to submit their civil comments, pro or con, on this issue. Email AZOpinions@iniusa.org.
