Pickleball 'is the latest addiction'

Nov. 29—Pickleball enthusiast Jennifer Bridges said pickleball is still growing in popularity, leading to more courts being built in Athens and Decatur, and one of the positives of the sport is getting people of all ages out and moving.

"If you ask me to go out for a walk or go to the gym, it just psyches me out. But it's very common for people to come out and we play like an hour, two, three hours at a time and then we have to pull ourselves away," said Bridges, the vice president of the Athens Alabama Pickleball Association (AAPA). "This is the latest addiction."

Athens' newest pickleball courts at Big Spring Park, also known as the Duck Pond, opened to the public at the end of September and had a formal opening this month. The six courts, which were converted from tennis courts, make a total of 18 pickleball courts in Athens. Bridges said the AAPA pushed for the additional courts.

"We went to the city and made a request to see what we could do," she said. "They worked with us to look at the facilities and what could be done."

Bridges said the the new courts were needed due to the growth of the pickleball community.

"There is such a high demand," she said. "We have almost 300 members of our association, but the community is more than that. ... Then we have from the north Alabama region ... friends from Decatur, Madison, Huntsville, Moulton, Hartselle, Florence, who come and play with us."

With the AAPA members plus people that come to Athens to play, Bridges said, there are probably 600 or more people playing pickleball in Athens. She said they formed AAPA about two years ago to pull all the pickleball players together.

"We have age groups anywhere from their 20s to the 80s here," she said. "I feel like everybody here, they're looking to be active, have a good form and when people get involved, they realize it's doable. This is a sport that anybody can come out and play."

The AAPA held its Picklefest Tournament at the end of September for the second year in a row. Tournaments are held at the Athens Sportsplex. Bridges said they had about 250 players and it is one of the largest pickleball tournaments in north Alabama.

Bert Bradford, director of Athens Parks and Recreation, said Athens has 14 outside courts and four indoor courts. He said, besides the six new courts at Big Spring Park, there are eight at Swan Creek Park, and one permanent and three temporary courts at the Sportsplex. Bradford said the courts at Big Spring Park have been in the works for a while.

"From inception, trying to get things going, getting a contractor, getting on his list, it's probably been a year process to get to the point we are now," he said. "And we're still going to make some improvements there. I think there's some covered seating that needs to be put up there to give the people that are not playing a place to sit. There are other improvements that we would like to do downtown at the Big Spring (Park)."

Bradford said the courts at Swan Creek Park are temporary.

"They still are tennis courts; we went and painted pickleball lines on there and they have pickleball nets," he said. "They're kind of make-do until we can make something more permanent. But they're very popular and they work really well."

One court at the Sportsplex is used only for pickleball, Bradford said, while the other three are in a gymnasium and set up for many hours during each week.

"I think at this point right now we probably have enough courts," he said. "I think we have enough right now that it's giving those groups that love pickleball options of where to play." — Decatur

Aaron Lang, Decatur Parks and Recreation operations manager, said Decatur has 17 pickleball courts, including 15 outdoor and two indoor at the Aquadome. He said there are two more indoor courts at T.C. Almon, but it is set to be demolished Friday. Lang said outdoor courts include one at Pop Oliver Park, four at Walter Jackson Elementary School, four at Julian Harris Elementary, and six at Austin Junior High.

"The only one that is a dedicated pickleball is the one at Austin Junior High," he said. "All the rest of the outdoor courts are overlaid onto tennis courts. So, you can play tennis or pickleball. Pickleball (is played) with portable nets which are on the courts and then the tennis court nets are stationary."

Lang said the city will soon be building a large indoor pickleball facility.

"We are in the process of building the 12-court, indoor pickleball at Point Mallard which will be in a ClearSpan building," he said. "It'll sit where the outdoor expo building used to sit at Point Mallard. ... We're hoping to break ground in the next month or so, getting the asphalt complete, and hoping to have completion late spring."

Pickleball is continuing to grow in Morgan County, Lang said, and they hope to have tournaments in the new facility.

"It has definitely picked up and I know once we get the indoor courts, we should be able to keep that facility full," he said.

He expects the indoor courts to be available for rent.

"I don't think we have a price structure on that yet, but it will be comparable to tennis fees," he said.

—erica.smith@decaturdaily.com or 256-340-2460.