By Philip Sean Curran
Pickleball, a hybrid of tennis, badminton and ping-pong, has become popular in Monmouth County, where players this week urged county officials to provide additional courts for the fast-growing sport.
Kim Smith, a resident of Fair Haven and ambassador for the USA Pickleball Association, asked the Monmouth County Board of Recreation Commissioners Feb.11 for dedicated courts. “There’s just not enough places to play in Monmouth County,” she said at the board meeting.
At the moment, the county has two courts for pickleball at Thompson Park and five at the Fort Monmouth Recreation Center.
Around the Two River area courts have been installed in Red Bank at the YMCA, as well as East Side Park (272 Mechanic St.) and the New Shrewsbury Racquet Club (71 N. Gilbert St.). Fair Haven tennis courts at Victory Park and Fair Haven Fields have also been lined for pickleball, as have those at the Holmdel Swim Club.
Pickleball courts are smaller than tennis courts, measuring 20-by-44 feet.
Smith said six pickleball courts can fit on two tennis courts.
“What I would love to see is to get real dedicated courts that are just pickleball courts,” she said, preferably six to eight of them.
In terms of possible locations, she said the Dorbrook Recreation Area in Colts Neck would provide a central place for the entire county. Another option she cited was Wolf Hill Recreation Area in Oceanport.
Officials made no decision this week on the request for additional playing space.
The sport, founded in Washington in 1965, today boasts some 3.1 million players nationwide.
Last year, pickleball’s national championships were televised on ESPN, and the first New Jersey Open tournament brought more than 140 players to the outdoor courts at the Red Bank YMCA. Competitors from around the country and even international players participated in the state’s first USA Pickleball Association-sanctioned event.
“Right now, I think the perception is that it’s a very much senior-dominated sport and there’s some reality with that,” USAPA executive director Justin Maloof told The Two River Times in a Feb. 11 phone interview. “When pickleball really got popular 10, 15 years ago, a lot of that was happening in the Sun Belt states. You saw a number of 55-plus communities, RV resorts and senior centers in the Sun Belt states that… all started to add pickleball just as another amenity.”
Yet the sport is not only for the older population. He said that as communities install permanent playing facilities, “more younger players now have access to courts.”
Players are separated by a net in pickleball, competing in either singles or doubles.
By way of demonstration, Smith bounced a ball with a paddle during her remarks before the board. The game involves underhand serving and includes a “non-volley zone” in the area in front of the net.
The first side to reach 11 points by a margin of two wins.
Nets can cost from $150 and up, with an additional fee of about $450 to line the courts, Smith said.
During the meeting, one county resident talked about how he got hooked on a sport that he had discovered only recently.
“It’s a craze right now,” said Bill Zimmerman of Ocean Township. “A year ago, I didn’t know what pickleball was. Now I’m an ambassador, I rent paddles and I’m president of the Jersey Shore Pickleball Club of 65 members.”
“I’m so addicted to it,” said Sadie Reilly, a resident of Marlboro, also at the meeting.
Smith touched on the health and social interaction benefits that come from participating in a sport open to players of all ages.
“It’s a great physical workout,” said Smith, also a pickleball instructor in the county park system. “It’s for everybody and it’s just so easy to learn.”
During the meeting, commissioner David W. Horsnall asked Smith what made the game enjoyable for people.
“It’s very addictive,” she answered. “People will play in the morning, (and) they go back at night to play. It’s very social.”
Shannon Eadon, a Rumson resident and pickleball player, told the board how the sport transcends socio-economic backgrounds.
“We will be out there with a multimillionaire, who’s playing with a lineman from JCP&L, who’s playing with somebody who cleans houses, who’s playing with a housewife, who’s playing with a retiree,” she said. “It really crosses all lines.”
