Pickleball attracts young and old alike
As restrictions from the coronavirus pandemic continue easing, members at the El Dorado Golf & Country Club will soon be getting introduced to a sport that is one of the fastest growing in the country.
Pickleball, according to the USA Pickleball Association (USAPA), was introduced in 1965 in Washington.
On its website, the USAPA describes the basics of the sport as one that “combines many elements of tennis, badminton and ping-pong.”
The USAPA also says the sport can be played
either indoors or outdoors on a badminton-sized court and a slightly modified tennis net with a paddle and a plastic ball with holes. The sport can be played as doubles or singles.
Pickleball was introduced to Country Club membership as part of recent renovations that were completed toward the end of last year.
“Late last year, we did renovations to the Club that included resurfacing our tennis courts,” El Dorado Golf & Country Club General Manager Justin Awtrey said. “As part of that process, we added pickleball lines to two out of our four courts. We didn’t actually build courts specific to pickleball, we added the lines that allow our members to play pickleball on our tennis courts.”
The COVID-19 pandemic has kept most members off the courts, but a few have come out to play.
“We’ve had members come out on their own and socially play pickleball, or if you call it social, limited to same household persons,” Awtrey said. “They have played pickleball since we’ve reopened the courts. We just haven’t done an organized social event at the club.”
Awtrey said equipment to play is supplied by the club, and it gets sanitized after each use. He added that members can bring their own equipment as well.
So far, the response has been a positive one.
“They’re excited,” Awtrey said. “We have a lot of interest from young families and young people that have wanted to play just in a social environment that doesn’t put as much physical strain on your body as tennis does.
“They’re excited, and we’re excited at some point to be able to open it up and have some really fun social events at the Club. It’s kind of a fun time for people to get some exercise and join each other’s company.”
One reason the sport is taking off is that people of all ages can play.
“I think members are wanting to get into it. From an independent standpoint, we’ve had a good different group of people that have come out and played,” Awtrey said. “I think they’re eager to get introduced to the sport through a little bit more social environment and teaching, so we’ll have our tennis pro out there explaining how to play pickleball and the different rules and things associated with the sport. Once we do that, I think it will take off where members will really enjoy it young and old alike, once we can do a formal introduction to the sport.”
Awtrey himself is excited about the prospects the sport can bring to the Club.
“It’s a great addition to the Club,” Awtrey said. “It creates another avenue for people to get exercise and enjoy one of the fastest, if not the fastest growing sport in the country. We’re excited to have this amenity at the Club, and we really think it’s going to be popular among our members and their guests.
“With COVID, it kind of put us in a tough spot of not doing many social activities, but as things begin to open up a little bit, we have plans in the near future to be doing some pickleball socials at the Club for our membership,” he said.