Local Pickleballers Benefitting from
New, Planned Dedicated Courts
By Dana Dunn
WILMINGTON/CLINTON COUNTY, OHIO
Pickleball is the
fastest-growing sport in America for the third year running and Clinton County
enthusiasts who have contributed to that growth are benefitting from additional
courts added this year in Clarksville and Blanchester and more planned for
Wilmington.
There were an estimated
48.3 million pickleball participants in the United States in 2023, according to
the Association of Pickleball Professionals. The Sports and Fitness Industry
Association reported that pickleball participation has grown an average of
223.5% over the last three years.
Until earlier this
year, Clinton County did not have any dedicated public pickleball courts.
Instead, local tennis courts were striped with lines for the pickleball court
layout because tennis courts are longer and wider than pickleball courts. Also,
tennis nets are higher than in pickleball and until recently none of the local
courts even had pickleball nets.
That changed earlier
this year when the Friends of Clarksville, reacting to the growing interest in
pickleball, refurbished the closed Clarksville school’s one outdoor and two
indoor basketball courts so that they could also be used for two pickleball courts
inside and out. There are two sets of regulation height nets that can be used
inside or outside.
Wade Hall, president of
the group, admitted earlier this year that use of the pickleball courts has
been limited thus far but he expects usage to increase as the word gets out and
another winter arrives when his group will have the only indoor courts in the
county.
“One of the issues is
that people need to call Vernon Township to have the nets taken out and put in,”
Hall said. “
Hall said there is a
charge of $25 per hour with a minimum of two hours for using the indoor nets.
The group has tried a reduced rate for seniors and may investigate offering
that again, he said.
Hall said the cost to line each pickleball
court was $695 and the cost for the two portable pickleball nets was $595 each.
“We collaborated with Gamechanger Athletics, a local contractor from Morrow,
and they did a great job,” Hall said.
Regulation
pickleball courts were recently added to the Blanchester High School/Middle
School. The schools’ five tennis courts needed resurfaced and painted and
athletic director Brad Ballinger thought it a great time to also make two of
them adaptable for four pickleball courts.
School
funds and a couple of local grants made that happen. “I had heard of pickleball
and how it has really caught on for a lot of the older generation. This was a
great opportunity to tie a school need in with the greater community need,”
Ballinger said.
“The
grant that we received from the Clinton County Foundation's Vallee Fund was for
$25,000. The Blanchester Schools Foundation pledged $3,500 for pickleball
striping, nets, and equipment. The total cost for the courts was $49,687, plus
we purchased the nets for $807 and the box to keep them in for $89.99. The
school district paid the remainder of the cost. If you subtract the Vallee
grant and the BSF donation from the total cost, the district spent $22,084.49.”
Ballinger said all the
courts are open to the public, except during school hours or when being used
for a school event. “Our tennis nets will remain up,” he said. “The
pickleball nets are portable and stored in a pool box just outside of the
tennis court fencing.”
Wilmington has had retrofitted
public pickleball courts on tennis courts at J.W. Denver Williams, Jr.,
Memorial Park for around a decade. The Clinton Swim and Tennis Club in
Wilmington also has retrofitted pickleball courts on its tennis courts, but
they are only available for members, except for a league. The Wilmington High
School tennis courts were used for a fund-raising tournament last weekend, but they
were marked off with temporary tape for pickleball.
The good news for Wilmington
players, who want to play close to home and to avoid wait lines, is that it is
anticipated that Wilmington City Parks and Recreation will have the funds to
build three dedicated pickleball courts at J.W. Denver Williams, Jr., Memorial
Park that will be ready for use in 2025.
“We will leave the
pickleball markings on the tennis courts so it can be used for both tennis and
pickleball, but they will primarily be used for tennis once the new ones are
built,” said Ken Upthegrove, who became the parks and recreation director in
July.
Jody Drake is the
athletic coordinator who has been involved in the project from its inception. “The
cost for the three new courts, which would include fencing and permanent nets,
is $157,550. The project budget is $182,550, which includes $15,000 for a stewardship
fund for ongoing maintenance and $10,000 for additional features which
could include benches, shade, trees, wind screens.”
Wilmington Savings Bank
has pledged $15,000 to the project and Zeigler Financial of Wilmington has
pledged $10,000. The city also applied for a grant from the Clinton County
Legacy Fund, which could be awarded this fall.
Drake has watched the
sport grow in interest locally for a long time. “We have had a group playing
for over eight years at the park,” he said. “Cathy Fay has been the leader of
this group since the beginning, and we have seen the numbers continue to grow
each year.”
Fay is a retired physical
education teacher and tennis coach for Wilmington City Schools who said she was
introduced to pickleball by a friend in Florida and “loved it right away.” She asked
Lori Williams (who was the director of the parks at the time) if pickleball lines
could be painted on the two tennis courts at Denver Park and “she made it happen.”
Although all
generations are playing pickleball these days, it is certainly becoming a
favorite of seniors. “I used to play and coach tennis but with aging it is not
as easy to do anymore,” Fay said.
Particularly in
pickleball doubles, players do not have to move as much as in tennis because
the court is smaller, roughly the size of a badminton court. The other key differences
between the two sports: tennis uses rubber-covered balls, while pickleball uses
hollow plastic Wiffle™-like balls; pickleball players use light paddles, while
tennis players use heavy racquets.
“I just started asking
friends to play,” Fay recalled. “I loaned my paddles to some, and many started
buying their own. More friends came and friends of friends. I started a text
thread to let people know when we were playing and if the courts were dry.
There are 35 people on the thread and not everyone that plays are in the
thread.
“We even have a couple
from Florida that plays with us during the summer. During the pandemic, a group
of us played every month except February. If there was no snow or ice on the court,
we were bundled up and playing.
It really helped get through the pandemic.”
The social aspect of
the sport is pointed to as a key reason for its growth. “I have met so many new
people and have new good friends,” Fay said. “You get a
good work out in a relatively short amount of time. We laugh a lot. It is a fun group. We are all looking
forward to having some dedicated courts.”
Jim Fife is another
local pickleball enthusiast, who plays at the Wilmington
Park. “The people we play with range in age from college age to the mid-80s,”
he said. “Many of us go out of town and play as well.”
The
addition of new indoor and outdoor courts locally may keep Fay, Fife, and their
compatriots closer to home in the future.
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