Pickleball is the fastest-growing sport in America for the third year running and Clinton County enthusiasts who have contributed to that growth are benefiting 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 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 have recently been added to Blanchester High 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 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 long-handled 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.
