Grand opening and pro clinic will celebrate finished pickleball courts
By Willis Patenaude
It was several years ago when the city realized that the tennis courts needed to be rehabbed given the deterioration of the asphalt surface which had developed cracks, making it difficult to play, and several local tennis players brought it to their attention, but a confluence of things, including money and other projects taking priority, would delay the rehab until it started receiving more attention back in January 2022 when it was discussed during Council budget meetings and was being pushed by then Councilmember Eric Grau.
Being urged along by Grau, the City would apply for a grant in the fall of 2022 through the Upper Mississippi Gaming corporation (UMGC), as well as several other grants to cover the cost or at least get an estimate on how much fundraising would be needed. Once they secured funding the project enough to get started, they entered the planning phase, but that was slowed by a debate and weighing the available options over whether the rehabbed court should be asphalt or concrete.
While concrete generally has a longer lifespan, it is also more costly, which would have necessitated more grants and fundraising, so the decision was made to go with asphalt with work starting in the spring of 2023, but complications involving the contractor and scheduled, would delay the project from being completed until the spring of this year with a total project cost of $77,120, of which just over $74,000 was covered through grants and in-kind donations, leaving about $3,100 left to raise, but the court is finished.
However, this time around, they didn’t just create a new tennis court because back during the early conversations, someone, who City Administrator Jennifer Cowsert couldn’t recall, brought up the idea of painting lines for pickleball as well. For the uninitiated, pickleball has a long history, dating back to 1965 when Joel Pritchard, congressman from Washington State and Bill Bell, successful businessman, finished a round of golf and returned home with nothing much else to do, so they grabbed a set of Ping-Pong paddles, a perforated plastic ball and set up a badminton net and a new sport was born.
Since the birth of the sport, it has clearly evolved, no longer does it use Ping-Pong paddles, but sport specific paddles and balls that resemble wiffle balls, thought they are slightly heavier, but one thing that hasn’t changed, is how family friendly and easy the game is to play, which was one of the original purposes behind the creation of the game. This was also one of the reasons behind the push to include pickleball lines on the court, but it wasn’t the only one.
Along with the ease of play, was the addition of another recreational opportunity down at City Park for campers and locals and the more options a community has, the better in the estimation of Cowsert who also suggested that the variety helps “keep people active and healthy.”
It also helps that pickleball has exploded in popularity since holding its first tournament in 1976. According to the Association of Pickleball Professionals, there are over 36.5 million pickleball players in the United States and in a report published by Sports & Fitness Industry Association (SFIA) it stated, “pickleball continues to be the fastest-growing sport in America, having grown 51.8% from 2022 to 2023, and an incredible 223.5% in four years since 2020.” That same report named pickleball the fastest growing sport for the last three years.
As for the notion that it improves health, pickleball is a low-impact game with numerous health benefits, especially for seniors due to the smaller court requiring less running and reducing wear and tear on knees, hips, ankles, and joints. It’s also low impact on the tendons and arm muscles and helps with hand-eye coordination, weight loss, and can boost the cardiovascular system, which helps prevent things like hypertension, stroke and heart attack. Not to mention there is the social aspect of getting out and playing and meeting people, which reduces isolation, thereby likely improving emotional and mental health. So, as Cowsert said, the decision to include pickleball just “made sense.”
The four pickleball courts are completely open to the public and the response has been “very good,” Cowsert said, to the point that even a pickleball league has been started and to highlight the accomplishment and usher in the sunny weather, the Elkader Park Board will host a grand opening dedication on June 15th starting at 9am with a ribbon cutting ceremony, as well as a pickleball clinic with US Pickleball Pro Taylor Leone. Leone has been playing the sport since 2017 and won a gold medal at the National Championships in 2019.
Bringing Leone to Elkader is the work of GEAR Elkader and Mike McShane, which sells recreational equipment and just so happens to sell the ProLite brand of paddle Leone has used since 2018 and through a conversation with a ProLite representative, it was discovered that Leone would come and do a clinic, which was thought to be a great addition to the ribbon cutting ceremony. The clinic will likely include a general overview of the game, specifics on how to play, and then a demonstration. The dedication is also being sponsored by CJ Moyna and Sons, UMGC, Foundation of Cornerstone Communities, Gifford Family Endowment for Elkader, R.J. McElroy Trust, and ITC Midwest.
“I think it will be great to engage some people that still want to learn how to play,” Cowsert said.
