By: Lydia Crawley
The Parsons Advocate
Skylar Humphrey and Lauren Fridley appeared before the Parsons City Council Tuesday night, September 17th to present a plan to bring a set of four Pickleball Courts to Parsons.
Under the plan, Humphrey said the existing tennis court at Mill Race Park would be converted and resurfaced into four Pickleball Courts. “There’s an opportunity over at Mill Race Park,” Humphrey said. “The old Tennis Ball Court, as you all know, has not been refinished or played on in years.”
According to Humphrey, the growing sport would bring in tourism opportunities and people to the area. “This new growing sport, Pickleball, its a fast growing sport and I really think its a great opportunity in town to bring some tourism activities and more inflow of people,” Humphrey said.
Fridley related some of the statistics related to the growth of the sport to the Council. According to Fridley, the sport has grown 224% since Covid and is the fasted growing sport in the country. “Pickleball is the fastest growing sport across America,” Fridley said. “From the years 2022 to 2023 the sport increased to 51.8% and then over the last four years, since Covid, its increased 224%. So this thing is like a monster growing across the U.S.”
Fridley said the sport combines tennis, badminton and ping pong and is played on a hard top, which translated to the old tennis court being the perfect location for a pickle ball court in Parsons. “It combines tennis, badminton and ping pong,” Fridley said. “So all of those are played on a hard top. That’s why when we saw the tennis court in the shape it was, we thought this would be the perfect place for it.”
Fridley said the sport appeals to all generations with today’s players averaging in age from 18 to 44, but pre-covid players aging 50 to 65. “The primary appeal of this sport, is that it comes from an inclusivity of all players,” Fridley said. “So, the average range of player right now, as of today, is 18 to 44. But before Covid, it was 50 to 65.”
According to Fridley the game is easy to learn. “Its easy to pickup,” Fridley said. “A lot of people can just meet up and play all ages.”
Fridley said that the City would benefit financially from future tournaments the Pickleball Courts could host. “From boosting small businesses to driving tourism, the sport is an economic force right now,” Fridley said. “Communities that are hosting Pickleball tournaments are seeing a huge surge in visitors, which is leading to more restaurants having businesses, hotels, all sorts of things.”
Humphrey said that under their plan, the existing 20 by 60 tennis court could be divided into four pickleball courts. “We have one 20 by 60 court down there right now,” Humphrey said. “That could be broken up into four different courts…there’s enough for four courts there with an eight foot spacing between each court.”
Under the plan outlined by Humphrey and Fridley, the total cost would be between $12,000 and $17,000 to renovate and install the courts, according to Humphrey. “So, ours being in the condition its in, it might be a little bit more expensive, but from I’ve found online, the average cost is 55 cents to $1.50 per square foot,” Humphrey said. “We have 7200 square foot. That comes out to about $10,800. You’re nets are about $500 a piece for your really nice ones. You can get cheaper ones for $150 a piece, but all in you’re looking at between $12,000 to $17,000.”
Council Member Tim Turner said that during the Parks and Recreation Board meeting, the Board had discussed the issue of pickleball courts, but were not aware of Humphrey and Fridley’s plans. Humphrey said that resident Judy Pitzer had been working on procuring grant funding for the project, as well, but was unable to attend the meeting. “We did talk about it in our Park Board meeting,” Turner said. “We did not know that Judy was working in the background to try to secure money from Tucker County Endowment.”
Turner also said that he was aware of talks between Pitzer and a former Park Board member about available funding for the project. “I’ve talked to Skylar some about it,” Turner said. “We didn’t know if its too late in this season to get it done.”
Humphrey said should the courts be approved and built, he would be willing to host a tournament. “I truly think this is a realistic goal that would bring a lot to this area,” Humphrey said. “If it happens, I’m willing to host a tournament. Between her and I, I’m sure we can get some contacts down here.”
The Council agreed to help find grant funding for the project and connect Humphreys and his associates with possible grant opportunities to check into. Humphrey said that donations were also welcome for the project, as well.
Turner said the goal would be to complete the courts in spring using Harman funds to complete the project. “I think if our goal could be to get this work done in early spring, we would be able to see if we would be able to get some leverage from Harman funds early to help with it,” Turner said. “So, we do have that option.”
Turner said that the money should be able to be available for the project. “I think we can probably get the money pulled together,” Turner said. “It is just getting the contacts of people that can resurface it.”
