Pickleball games continue in Yuba-sutter

Michael Barrette said he was first introduced to the game of pickleball about four years ago during a trip to Mexico.

“I became fascinated with it,” Barrette said.

Since then, Barrette began trying to bring it to the Yuba-sutter area, which has a number of local parks and courts suitable for the game.

Its first home was the indoor facility Home Court off Gray Avenue before branching out across the street to Sam Brannan Park.

The first pickleball tournament held at Sam

Brannan Park was in

2019 and there were 60 participants, said Barrette, the president and founder of the Yuba-sutter Pickleball Club.

The game itself is similar to tennis but played on a smaller court with a plastic wiffle ball and paddles for the players. The serve and return both have to bounce, which is different from tennis, Barrette said.

There is net play allowed, he said, but volleying has to occur outside of the seven feet marked area.

“If it bounces within the seven-feet zone then you can hit it,” Barrette said. “It’s almost backwards (from) tennis.”

There are men’s, women’s and mixed doubles teams.

To set up games locally, Barrette said people can visit https:// playtimescheduler.com, where they must log in before selecting a time and date to play.

He said an email will be automatically sent to alert the person that the game is on. Saturdays can be fairly busy at Sam Brannan Park, which has six pickleball courts, Barrette said.

All COVID-19 protocols are encouraged for every game, Barrette said.

“It’s an excellent diversion for us,” he said.

For more information, visit https://www. yspickleball.com.