As pickleball-mania continues to spread across the U.S., the sport is running into resistance in some neighborhoods.
Arlington County (Va.) became the latest pickleball battleground this week. Plans call for the county to add more pickleball courts to the Walter Reed Community Center in Arlington. Neighborhood organizers are adamantly opposed to the plan, and this week they struck back. Pickleball foes circulated a flyer headlined “Pickleball Cluster = Public Nuisance,” saying that the existing pickleball courts are already a problem.
The flyer cites “bullying of our children by pickleball players,” “public urination on playground and sensory garden,” and causing “excessive continuous noise from dawn to 10 p.m. every day.” The flyer also mentions parking issues, large crowds, and “Tennis and basketball hijacked by pickleball — ALL DAY EVERY DAY.”
The local residents claim they’re not trying to start “all-out war” against pickleball, but they feel the county is making a mistake with plans to build the new courts.
Pickleball fans quickly fired back at the flyer. One Twitter user tweeted, “Out here doing some street research on this pickleball thing — don’t see much urinating or bullying currently — will stick around for a few hours though just in case.”
Out here doing some street research on this pickle ball thing – don’t see much urinating or bullying currently – will stick around for a few hours tho just in case pic.twitter.com/s17nATIjo0
— SRtwofourfour (@SRtwofourfour) February 10, 2023
Invented in 1965, pickleball unexpectedly began gaining popularity within the past decade. According to one industry estimate, there are now 4.8 million players in the U.S., double the figure from just five years ago. There is even now a professional pickleball league, and the sport has attracted high-profile investors such as LeBron James, Tom Brady, Kevin Durant, and Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban.
