Happy to be in a pickle
Lodi tennis, pickleball courts reopen with new rules
A handful of pickleball players took the courts at Legion Park on South Hutchins Street on Thursday, happy that at least one amenity of Lodi’s 28 parks had re-opened after more than a month of closure.
“We’re happy,” Edgar Valdez said as he played pickleball with three friends. “We’ve been waiting. It’s been a long time.”
Valdez, the lone Lodi resident in his pickleball group, said he and his friends learned of the re-opening
Wednesday night. Word started to spread around the pickleball community in the area, and players were ready to hit the courts.
The only thing the group didn’t know was exactly what time the courts opened.
Their group and others playing on the Legion Park tennis courts were making sure they kept their distance from each other as they played, and also made sure not to touch the nets.
“We’re keeping it safe, and keeping our distance and everything,” Stockton resident Logan Lazaro said. “We’re just relieved that it’s open, and we can get out of the house a little bit.”
While no official announcement was made by City of Lodi Wednesday night, the group said those in the pickleball community that had been urging the city to re-open the courts spread the message.
“The pickleball community is pretty strong,” Stockton resident John Ellis said. “Everybody is communicating with each other by text these days, and there are groups online with Facebook, so people are communicating quite a bit about this sport.”