Chandler may convert courts for pickleball

Chandler is considering converting tennis courts at Apache Park into pickleball courts to accommodate a growing trend.

Recommendations about whether the change should occur will be made at the Parks and Recreation Board meeting on July 7. The Parks and Recreation Board will hold an advisory vote and then the proposed conversion will be brought to the City Council.

Pickleball is referred to as a combination of ping-pong, badminton, and tennis. It's played on a badminton-size court with a low net using wooden paddles and a perforated plastic ball. The game was created in 1965 in Seattle and is named after the dog of one of the co-inventors.

The estimated cost for converting two of the four tennis courts at the park is $6,000. The change was supposed to go to vote at the board meeting in May but was postponed to get public input. The board held a public meeting Saturday to discuss the court changes with residents and demonstrate the game.

Park Planning Superintendent Don Tolle said he hadn't heard any major opposition to the change but felt it was important to talk to the neighbors around the park.

Apache Park, located at 1300 N. Hartford St., was chosen because of the amount of usage of the tennis courts.

"We looked at several locations and (Apache) seemed to be the most feasible," Tolle said. "We want minimum displacement of other activities."

Recreation coordinator Sean Paulson said the park was chosen instead of the Chandler Tennis Center because the courts would be free and accessible. The two parks that fit the needs are Apache and Arrowhead. For two weeks during area schools' spring break, both parks were monitored for tennis usage to see which could accommodate pickleball.

"We don't want to take away from the tennis players," said Paulson, who is also an avid tennis player. Usage of the tennis courts at Apache seemed low enough that pickleball would not displace many tennis players.

Sun Lakes Pickleball Club came to Saturday's meeting to show support for the change. Converting the courts at Apache Park would help open up the sport to the East Valley.

Pickleball is one of the fastest growing games among retirement communities. It was added to the Arizona Senior Olympics this year and the USA Pickleball Association will hold its first junior competition this November. The game has also become very popular in school physical education programs. Paulson said it's hoped that having the courts in the park will help keep up with this growing trend and hopefully attract more families to the game.

"(The park) is the logical choice because it's free and it's with the community," Paulson said. "We wanted this to be viewed as a family experience."

Staff from the Tumbleweed Recreation Center demonstrated the game on Saturday for onlookers. They learned how to play the game just prior to the meeting to help demonstrate how simple the game is to learn.

"It's an easy sport to pick up," Paulson said. "I think it's an excellent entry to the game of tennis."

Paulson said pickleball lessons would be provided after the conversion of the courts.

"If we're going to do it, we want to do it right," Paulson said. "We just want to make it accessible."