Tennis, Pickleball, and Acorns: It’s Nuts

I live in a city that has great public parks. In fact, I live next to one of the best public park tennis facilities that you will ever come across. This was not by accident. I built my house in this location specifically because of the close proximity to that outstanding public park.

In February of this year, the Parks and Rec department in my city removed a sand volleyball court from the park and replaced it with a bank of four beautiful pickleball courts. The courts were built due to resident demand for pickleball. Prior to the construction, the city recreational facility was witnessing overflow crowds on the days designated for play of the sport in the gymnasium of the indoor recreation center.

In addition, two of the six tennis courts at Dove Park and both courts at Heritage Park were also lined for pickleball. The infographic that accompanied the article that was written for the local community impact paper also contained information that introduced the game of pickleball to the reading public and provided an overview of how to play the game.

The removal of the sand volleyball court was welcome news to me. The migration of sand from the volleyball court to the adjacent tennis court was an ongoing issue. While I had a passing awareness that pickleball was gaining in popularity, I had no idea how enthusiastically the sport had already become in my community. I was also unaware of what a menace this would be to the condition and availability of the two tennis courts that were lined for pickleball.

The pickleball net is supposed to be two inches lower than a tennis net in the center. When play overflows to the tennis courts, the pickleball players lower the net and usually don’t restore it to the tennis configuration. It’s annoying. The nets are wearing out from the incessant adjustments.

Dove Park has several large oak trees that overhang some of the tennis courts. During certain times of the year, it is pretty common to find acorns scattered on the courts. In fact, throughout the entire playing career of the umpire I gave birth to, I would always take the acorn side of the court to reduce the risk that she might roll an ankle. That kid was 18 years old before she had the realization that this magnanimous act also always placed me on the shady side of the court.

The oak trees also partially overhang the new pickleball courts. In fact, someone brought a broom up to the courts, inscribed with a sharpie “Pickleball – Do Not Remove.” I laughed when they did that. Miraculously, six months later, that broom has remained present on the pickleball courts. I am 100% sure it would have disappeared within the first 24 hours if that feat had been attempted on the tennis side of the fence.

There is a really simple explanation for this. The pickleball courts are always occupied by players. Always. It is common to find all four courts occupied with more players waiting in the wings and overflowing onto the adjacent tennis courts. As far as I can tell, pickleball players do not have jobs. They do not have families. They consume all their meals from ice coolers which they carry up to the courts with them on a regular basis. They never leave.

That broom is safe, because pickleball never sleeps. It’s nuts.

1. Grapevine installs new pickleball courts, Miranda Jaimes, Community Impact Newspaper, Grapevine | Colleyville | Southlake edition, March 11, 2020.