Hometown SportS Pickleball courts to be built at Creekside Park

By Hemananthani Sivanadam Correspondent

Pickleball enthusiasts will soon get permanent courts at the Creekside Park in summer this year.

The Brentwood City Council approved the Creekside Pickleball Court project to construct between four and six permanent pickleball courts in place of the basketball court at Creekside Park.

Players have been using three makeshift courts overlaid in 2018 on the Creekside Park basketball court.

The City Council approved a budget of $306,000 for constructing the permanent pickleball courts.

Park Maintenance Manager Aaron Wanden said the conceptual design was approved by the Park and Recreation Commission at its July 28 meeting last year.

Wanden noted, “Staff are currently working with a design firm to finalize the site plan and the construction documents. Once the construction documents are complete in the next two weeks, staff will formally put the construction phase of the project out to bid. We anticipate taking the contract to the City Council on May 23 for (an) award. Upon approval, we are anticipating construction to begin in early June and be complete in early Summer 2023,” said Wanden via email on March 14.”

Wanden said the move to have permanent pickleball courts in the city was part of the 2019 Update to the Parks, Trails, and Recreation Master Plan.

He said the City Council had identified the project as part of its 2019 Strategic Plan, with funding set to be approved in early 2020.

However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the project was put on hold.

Other amenities in the construction would include court lighting, a shade structure, picnic tables and benches.

The courts will also be free for public use.

However, some ardent pickleball players in Brentwood said they felt the City was slow in addressing the growing number of people interested in the sport.

Pickleball is one of the fastest-growing sports in America. According to the Sports and Fitness Industry Association’s (SFIA) report, participation in pickleball nearly doubled in 2022, increasingly by 85.7% year-overyear and a staggering 158.6% over three years.

There are now some 8.9 million players in the United States aged six and over, an increase from 4.8 million, stated in the 2022 SFIA Report.

David Smookler, who started the

Brentwood Pickleball Club at Creekside Park in 2015, said many players were forced to look for pickleball courts outside the city.

Smookler said the number of people playing at the Creekside Park was getting smaller as people were frustrated with the conditions of the makeshift courts.

“Discovery Bay has less than 15,000 people, yet they have at least 12 tennis and six pickleball courts.

“We have (about) 70,000 people here in Brentwood, but we only have three (makeshift) pickleball courts.

“The City needs to get serious (about pickleball),” he said.

Local pastor Destined Wright said pickleball is one of the fastest-growing sports, but it’s hard to keep people interested if the courts are in bad condition.

“If you have permanent courts, then more people would be interested. It just seems like an afterthought because other cities have proper courts,” said Wright.

He added that pickleball is also good for the local economy as tournaments will attract players from other cities.

“People usually have lunch or meet afterwards, so it is good for restaurants (and shops) in the area,” said Wright.

Smookler’s daughter Britney, a secondyear college student, hopes to introduce and teach pickleball to younger kids who can learn to play what is essentially a form of mini-tennis. It is often described as a combination of tennis, Ping-Pong and badminton on a smaller court on which players hit a plastic pickleball with a composite or wooden paddle over a net.

Britney, who played tennis in high school, said she fell in love with pickleball because it is a social sport.

“It’s a fast-paced game and a good family sport too. I want to teach more young kids to pick up pickleball,” said Britney, who has participated in several tournaments.

Wanden said until the 2019 update to the Parks, Trails, and Recreation Master Plan, the city has not had many opportunities to provide pickleball courts in the city’s park system.

However, he acknowledged that given the rising popularity of pickleball, the city would continue to explore possibilities of adding new courts when the opportunity arises with the development of new parks.

“The city recently held the second community meeting for the Sand Creek Sports Complex, and pickleball continues to be identified as a potential amenity at this site,” he added.