NATIONAL SENSATION PICKLE BALL EXPANDING IN GALLATIN
Six New Courts Created at Municipal Park to Accommodate Demand
GALLATIN – Gallatin Parks and Recreation is announcing that six new outdoor pickle ball courts at Municipal Park will be completed in the late spring. Similar to tennis, pickle ball is played with an oversized paddle and a baseball-sized whiffle ball on a surface about half the size of a tennis court. Pickle ball has garnered national attention in the past three years as the premier sport for active seniors.
“This aligns nicely with our goal of making Gallatin attractive to older residents,” said Gallatin Mayor Paige Brown. “Perhaps we can become the nicest place in America to play Pickle Ball.”
Pickle ball started in Gallatin in the Civic Center gym in 2018 with temporary nets and Pickle ball lines on the basketball courts, but quickly expanded to six modified tennis courts at Municipal Park. The six additional outdoor pickle ball courts coming in the spring are also located at Municipal Park and are dedicated to Pickle Ball only. The new construction required resurfacing, repainting lines and installing new nets at a cost of $60,000. Players will be restricted to daytime hours as the new courts will have no lights. The project is expected to be completed in early late spring.
According to The Economist, Pickle ball participation grew by 21.3% between 2019 and 2020 with 4.2 million Americans now playing at least once a year. Pickle ball is especially attractive to seniors because it requires some mobility, but it’s not nearly as strenuous as tennis because the court is so much smaller.
“While interest in tennis has been waning over the years, pickle ball has become the next big thing,” said David Brown, Director of Gallatin Parks and Recreation. “I first thought it was just a fad with a funny name, but the demand was so strong we thought it was time to expand space for the players of this sport.”
Brown says the sport is organized, and players have regular times they meet each week. He says the addition of pickle ball courts will likely attract tournament play.
For more information on playing pickle ball in Gallatin or other activities, contact the Gallatin Civic Center at 615-451-5911.
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