In a hotly debated topic, Maricopa City Council last night picked a name for Copper Sky’s newest addition, a building that will house a mix of basketball, volleyball and pickleball courts.

The winning name: The Fieldhouse at Copper Sky. Council approved it on a 4-3 vote over other suggestions, including Copper Sky Fieldhouse, Copper Sky Sports Complex, Courts at Copper Sky and Copper Sky Sports Hall.

Parks & Recreation Director Rocky Brown said the list of contenders came from staff brainstorming, parks board input and a little help from ChatGPT.

“We ran it through staff meetings, we talked about it at the last parks board meeting, done a lot of straw polls. We had a really long list of like 20 names and some of them just didn’t feel right,” Brown said.

Council spent much of the discussion weighing whether “fieldhouse” was the right fit.

Councilmembers AnnaMarie Knorr and Amber Liermann were hesitant to use the term, arguing the building does not actually include fields and could confuse visitors expecting a temperature-controlled field space.

“About half the people I spoke to had never heard the term fieldhouse in their life and I’m one of them,” Liermann said. “I grew up in California, and I live in Arizona, so, it’s not a common West Coast term. It’s really more of a Midwest term because in the Midwest, the weather is not conducive to year-round field play.”

Knorr said she preferred Champion Center at Copper Sky, a name suggested by a constituent.

“I think that is neat. Champion Center at Copper Sky because you can be a champion of any sport. You can also be a champion if you’re graduating … it will be mostly athletic, but it doesn’t strictly keep us to athletics,” she said.

Vice Mayor Henry Wade and Councilmembers Eric Goettl and Bob Marsh said they wanted a simpler name, favoring Copper Sky Fieldhouse. Marsh added that a shorter name would help “save ink.”

Councilmember Vincent Manfredi, who was selected to be the city’s next vice mayor during Tuesday’s meeting, also leaned toward simplicity.

“If you want maximum clarity, Copper Sky Fieldhouse is pretty good. I think the Fieldhouse at Copper Sky works, too,” he said.

Mayor Nancy Smith, however, argued that Maricopa should choose something that would help the city stand out as it works to brand itself as a destination.

“When I see ‘complex,’ when I see the word ‘hall,’ when I see … ‘courts’ at Copper Sky, I just I don’t see anything that makes it stand out. So, I, too, like the Fieldhouse at Copper Sky,” she said.

After all the back and forth, Smith’s preferred name was the one that ultimately passed. Knorr, Liermann and Marsh voted in opposition.

Construction on the fieldhouse began in June. It is expected to open to the public in July 2026.

Editor’s note: Vincent Manfredi owns InMaricopa.