TRAVERSE CITY -- One of the fastest growing sports in the country has a home in East Bay Township.
Grace MacDonald Park celebrated the opening of three pickleball courts Sunday with a ribbon-cutting ceremony as well as exhibition games by some of the area's hottest players. The courts are the first dedicated ones in the region that are both public and free.
Not to mention top-notch, say players who have been around.
"The courts installed there honestly are about the best courts in the state of Michigan," said avid player Tayna Berg.
Enthusiasts of the paddle sport can now enjoy a paved, netted and lined facility adjoining the park's two tennis courts. For a game featuring rules and moves that combine badminton, tennis and table tennis, players use a small, hard paddle to hit a smaller, hard whiffle ball.
The pickleball playing area is about two-thirds the size of a tennis court. Since games often are played by doubles teams, the action is fast-paced.
Plus, pairing up into teams has another benefit.
"Most people play doubles because it's such a popular sport so you can get more people playing," Berg said.
With a user-friendly learning curve and accessible fun, for the past 44 years pickleball has captivated players of all ages. Invented by three men on Bainbridge Island in Washington State, the game's moniker comes from a family dog, Pickles, who would chase the balls and then abscond with them into the bushes.
"Pickles' ball" became pickleball and the sport quickly spread.
"Anyone can play it, it's a game that is easy to become proficient in -- for men, women and kids," said Dave Paulson, who has been playing pickleball for five years since learning in Florida, where it is very popular.
Paulson and fellow player Paul Briody became team leaders two months ago in the citizen-based quest for more access to the game. Determined to promote the sport with public courts, they noticed that the East Bay Township park had a little-used slab for skateboarders.
Contacting Grace MacDonald, the park's namesake and chair of the township's Parks Commission, to pitch the idea they soon had a supporter for the remodel.
"It would have never happened without her," said Briody of MacDonald.
After getting a green light, area pickleball players -- who otherwise use courts at the Grand Traverse Bay YMCA or other private venues -- pitched in to raise $10,800. A grant from the Oleson Foundation also helped make the dream a reality.
Pickleball players donated sweat equity to help build the courts: moving dirt, creating a retaining wall, doing whatever was needed.
"The project in East Bay Township I think is rather interesting and unique because of the collaborative nature of it," Berg said. "It included area residents and volunteers, not just a local unit of government. A lot of folks dug in and provided volunteer labor."
With benches on the perimeter -- donated by Elmbrook Golf Course, painted by volunteers -- a remaining task is to install wind screens in the fencing surrounding the pickleball courts.
"The ball is so light, unlike a tennis ball, so the wind blows it around," Paulson said.
For more information on pickleball, see www.pickleball.com.
Print this story
E-mail this story
