When the thermometer hits triple digits, most sensible people head indoors. But at Gilchrist Park in Punta Gorda, the pickleball courts stay packed.
On one of the hottest days of the summer, with feel-like temperatures soaring into dangerous territory, locals like Ron Fiedel and Neil Evans are out there serving and volleying like it’s just another pleasant Florida afternoon. Except, you know, the courts are approaching 150 degrees and the heat is legitimately trying to send them to the hospital.
Fiedel’s approach to surviving these inferno conditions reads like a survival guide: ice-insert hat, portable fans, electrolyte drinks loaded with salt and potassium, and enough water to fill a small pool. It’s elaborate because it has to be. “I did play like five or six hours that day,” he says, referring to when he ended up in the emergency room about a month ago needing IVs just to recover. Most people would take that as a sign to maybe find an indoor hobby. Not Fiedel. He’s just figured out how to do it “better.”
The commitment extends to the younger generation too. Kids at the adjacent playground are pushing through the heat, though they’ve learned fast that metal equipment is basically a medieval torture device in this weather. One touch and your hands feel like they’re going to catch fire. But the payoff—eventually jumping in the pool—makes it worth the burn.
What’s happening at Gilchrist Park is either inspiring or a cautionary tale, depending on your perspective. Either way, it’s a snapshot of summer in Southwest Florida: where the heat is relentless, the community is stubborn, and nobody’s letting a little thing like dangerously high temperatures get between them and their game. Just bring water. And probably inform someone where you’re headed.
