We need more pickleball courts
I asked retired USAPA ambassador Lynn Rabin for advice on how to get the support you need to add courts in your community
According to the Tennis Industry Association, there are approximately 17.96 million tennis players and about 270,000 courts in the US. According to the USA Pickleball Association (USAPA), as of last year there were 38,140 courts and 4.8 million pickleball players in the US.
That means there are 66 tennis players for each tennis court, compared to 125 pickleball players for each pickleball court in the country.
We need more pickleball courts.*
If you’ve been playing for more than a year, you’ve probably seen the pickleball courts get more crowded. (According to the USAPA, the sport has seen 39.3% growth over the last two years.) But public facilities with well-spaced permanent courts, nets, and nighttime lighting don’t just magically appear to meet demand. New courts can take years of planning, grassroots volunteering, and community outreach.
In Phoenix, AZ, the community worked with the city for three years to open a $1 million complex with 18 permanent courts at Pecos Park in 2018. The Burbank Leader/LATimes reported that ~60 private donors gave about $20,000 to help convert tennis courts into four permanent pickleball courts at Burbank, CA’s Larry L. Maxam Memorial Park.
Sometimes even volunteer labor and donated funds aren’t enough to get courts created. According to Willamette Week, the PDX Pickleball Club put together $9,000 out-of-pocket to convert a derelict tennis court in southwest Portland neighborhood of Sellwood. They were six weeks into the process of repairing and converting the court before the city locked them out, telling the volunteers that they would need to pay rent and get a permit to continue their (free!) work.
But when the hard work pays off, paradise is possible. Our beautiful local courts at Charles S. Farnsworth Park in Altadena (pictured above) started as a pickleball program in the summer of 2018 and eventually became four permanent courts in December of 2021. Lynn Rabin, USAPA ambassador from May 2018 to June 2021, helped gather data on players and attended local meetings to win support for the courts. She was kind enough to answer questions via e-mail about how Farnsworth’s courts went from dream to reality.
How long have you been playing pickleball? How did you get started playing?
Lynn Rabin: I've been playing for about 5 years. I was playing in a racquetball league, mostly with men quite a bit younger than I, and the league director suggested that I try pickleball. After three months of her continuing to offer and my continuing to say, "What's pickleball?", I went to Allendale [a Pasadena park with four permanent pickleball courts] one day. I never went back to racquetball.
How long did it take the Farnsworth group to convince the Parks department to add pickleball courts? Who did you work with on the project? Were there any key allies at the Parks department or with the city who were eager to help you?
LR: It took about two years to actually add the courts. It wasn't the parks department that needed the most convincing; it was the tennis players who did not want to lose a court. Altadena had only six public tennis courts; now it has five. The initial project was introducing the community to the sport. We were able to start a 6-week program under the auspices of the County Department of Parks and Recreation in June of 2018. Anthony Montanez, now the Regional Director for Parks & Rec, was the first person to actually have any kind of pickleball program. Our first night we had 50 people show up to learn the game! In addition to Mr. Montanez, we worked with Alejandro Miranda at Farnsworth Park, Sam Estrada and Trevor Zemp in parks administration. At the end of the process, we had the extraordinary assistance from Lance Verdugo, Manager 1 Facilities, who was instrumental in the final construction and look of the courts.
What advice do you have for people who want to get more courts in their area? Where should they start?
LR: Start with any ambassador you know or might be referred to because they've been through it in their area. They know who's in charge (county, city or town). If there is a question about sharing courts with tennis players, keep track of the numbers in a given hour who use either the pickleball and/or tennis courts. (We did it for an entire year.) Have a community meeting to explain what the sport involves and to handle all the questions from tennis players and the concerned community members. [Editor’s note: You can watch the Farnsworth Park Community Meeting presentation about the new pickleball courts on YouTube.]
Anything else people should know about this process?
LR: It's up to the ambassadors and players to establish an open, friendly community where all players and non-players feel welcome.
This interview was condensed for length.
Elsewhere in pickleball news
Could pickleball become an Olympic sport? If not for Paris 2024, maybe in L.A. 2028. Let’s get some new courts out of it!
This NYT article about pickleball doesn’t say much new, but it’s got some great pictures of players in Palm Springs. Winter in southern California is the best.
I wrote an article about Places to Pick Up Pickleball for the Inhabit blog from Corcoran. Of the places that weren’t included in the edit, I would like to see the Little Valley Pickleball Complex in St. George, Utah—24 beautiful, lit courts just south of the Red Cliffs National Conservation Area.
My favorite Morgan Evans quip (so far) watching the PPA Tour Arizona Grand Slam Mixed Doubles Pro tournament during the Tyson McGuffin/Lauren Stratman vs Colin Johns/Lea Jansen match:
DAVE WEINBACH: I thought that was sailing long.
MORGAN EVANS: Well, it was just mishit well enough. That was always the secret to my success. No one will guess what kind of pace you’re gonna hit if you never find the middle of the paddle.
*To be clear, I am not pitting pickleball against tennis. I know plenty of players (my partner included) who love both sports. We can share the courts! Or we can build new pickleball courts!