The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Pickleball courts added to Jindra Park
Longtime Wickliffe resident Joanne Beal is thrilled to see that there are pickleball courts in the city.
Beal, who is 81 years old, has served on the Parks and Recreation Commission since 1975. She asked the board to bring pickleball to Wickliffe in 2013.
“My kids had just opened the restaurant Beal’s Pickles and Pints and I said ‘wow, why don’t we do pickleball,’ ” she said. “At that time, people thought it was a fad so it didn’t come through.”
Five years later, a tennis court at Jindra Park has been converted into two pickleball courts.
The park at 901 Talmadge Ave. now offers two pickleball courts and two tennis courts.
Marcia Kish, a member of Wickliffe Forever and the Parks and Recreation Commission, thought pickleball would be a great fit for the city.
“So I said let’s do pickleball and that’s when we found out Joanne tried to do it,” Kish said.
“So we all worked together is the main part. Parks and Recreation, Wickliffe Service Department and Wickliffe Forever all came together and really made it happened.
Currently, the sport of pickleball is exploding in popularity, according to the USA Pickleball Association.
The game, created in 1965 near Seattle, is a fusion of racquetball, PingPong and tennis.
The number of places to play has more than doubled since 2010, the website also said.
“We’re hoping that this is just the beginning of it,” Kish said. “We have a lot of parks in Wickliffe, where we convert other tennis courts into pickleball courts, as it grows.”
Wickliffe Forever raised funds for the poles and nets, while the service department installed everything and painted the courts, Mayor John Barbish said.
“Everything looks amazing,” Barbish said. “We want to do everything we can, in my opinion, to bring more people into the city.”
The new pickleball courts attracted Cleveland resident Shawn Paul, who traveled from the west side of the city to Wickliffe just for its grand opening on Sept. 17.
Paul plays competitive pickleball and said he just wanted to support the sport.
For those who were unfamiliar with the sport, YMCA volunteer Donna Klements explained and demonstrated how to play. Then people of all ages took to the courts with their wooden paddles and plastic balls to give the interactive game a try.
“We’re hoping that this is just the beginning of it. We have a lot of parks in Wickliffe, where we convert other tennis courts into pickleball courts, as it grows.” — Marcia Kish, a member of Wickliffe Forever and Recreation Commission