City Convenes Community Meetings to Discuss Converting Tennis Courts into Pickleball Courts

Pasadena’s Human Services and Recreation Department has scheduled two outreach meetings in an effort to gather inputs from the community about converting the tennis court at Allendale Park into a pickleball court, as the new sport that originated from Bainbridge Island, Washington gains popularity in Pasadena.

Last month, the department said pickleball was being played more hours per week than tennis at the Allendale court, which was being used as a multi-function court since last year, and that four more sites in Pasadena were being eyed as potential pickleball game courts.

In an announcement at the City Manager’s Newsletter, Human Services and Recreation Director Horace Wormely said the two meetings, scheduled for Tuesday, April 11, and Tuesday, May 9, were set so the City could present information and get the community’s feedback about proposed changes to the existing court at Allendale Park.

The meetings will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. on both those days. Recreation department staff and people from the Parks and Natural Resources Division of the Department of Public Works will be there to answer questions about the proposed changes.

The announcement said community members who may not be able to attend the meetings but would like to provide input may get in touch with Leonardo Chavez, Recreation Coordinator at Victory Park, through (626) 744-8336 or by email, lchavez@cityofpasadena.net.

Comments and suggestions may also be submitted through the Human Services Department’s webpage, www.cityofpasadena.net/humanservices, using the customer feedback link.

Pickleball is a relatively new racquet sport that a group of Bainbridge Island parents started in 1965, when they came home from playing golf one day and found their kids bored and restless.

The three decided to create a game that would engage the kids through the lazy days of summer. They gave them table tennis paddles and a wiffle ball, and lowered the net on one of the neighbors’ badminton court. In the days that followed, both the kids and the adults came to enjoy the game, and from there Pickleball evolved into what it is now today.

The current sport shares features with other racquet sports, using the dimensions and layout of a badminton court and a net and rules similar to tennis with a few modifications.