InTucker Magazine

Ask Rip – September 2020

Rip Robertson is the Parks and Recreation Director for the City of Tucker.

If you’re a sports enthusiast like I am, it’s easy to get discouraged about the state of things as we enter the fall. Yes, we have the NFL. We have some college football conferences trying to piece a season together. Soccer has resumed its regular season. Baseball, basketball and hockey will all have a modified version of their playoffs. But if you like to get out and play the games yourself, if you’re a weekend warrior like I was before my recent knee replacement, coronavirus has really put a damper on your leisure time activities.

Here in the Tucker Parks and Recreation Department we are looking for ways to fill that void for people in our community. We can’t encourage sports with excessive contact, so you won’t find us sponsoring a tackle football league or basketball league just yet. But our staff has come up with some great alternatives where you can stay socially distant and still have some fun.

The first activity we came up with is an adult pickleball league. Once the City acquired the tennis courts at Smoke Rise Bath & Racquet Club, this was a total no-brainer. Pickleball has developed such a cult following here in Tucker since we introduced the courts at Tucker Recreation Center late last year. And it’s not just folks here in town; they are coming from all over metro Atlanta to play this modified version of tennis. If you haven’t tried it, what better opportunity to gain exposure than to sign up for our rec league. Seasoned veterans can enter the advanced bracket.

Next, I bet you didn’t know that we have a golf star on our staff. Well, sort of. Joe Stewart was a member of the Tucker High School golf team back in his time on campus during the early 2000s. While that golf career didn’t lead to the PGA Tour, he still has a passion for the game and that led him to start up a fall adult golf league. The league will take place at Smoke Rise Country Club starting on September 3 and run through the end of October. It should be a great opportunity to get out after work and maybe make some new friends.

Lastly, we are going to be hosting the City’s first ever e-Sports tournament. Now, I’m going to be honest on this one: my video game knowledge is very limited. I am a member of the Atari generation and I couldn’t begin to tell you about the gaming systems that are out there today. But I can tell you that we are working with professional gaming companies to ensure that this tournament is top notch in every way. Great games, great competition and, of course, great prizes. Stay tuned for details on how to sign up as that tournament takes place later this fall.

These are just three of the ways we are trying to respond to the need for recreation in the City. If you think of others, we’re all ears. Email us at parks@tuckerga.gov and let us know how we can keep Tucker going through this pandemic.