Montgomery Parks hosted a ribbon-cutting ceremony on, Monday, October 18, 2021, for the department’s first dedicated pickleball courts, located at Bauer Drive Local Park.  The six new courts have lights for play until 11 p.m. and are located adjacent to the Bauer Drive Communnity Recreation Center.

Pickleball is a fast-paced, low-impact sport that combines several classic games including badminton, tennis, and table tennis. It is played with a tennis-like net and paddles slightly larger than ping pong, with a plastic whiffle ball. 

“Pickleball is one of the fastest-growing sports in Montgomery County and nationally,” said Mike Riley, Director of Montgomery Parks. “With these new courts, we now have 40 pickleball courts in our park system, with plans for adding more in the coming years.”  

In 2019, Montgomery Parks concluded a pickleball study that investigated service needs, gaps, user preference for facility location and design, and service delivery strategies. The study was a multi-year collaborative process and gathered input from various sport court users to identify the best solutions for creating more opportunities for outdoor pickleball. As a result, 30 courts were completed in 2021 based on recommendations gathered by the study.   

“Pickleball is a fantastic sport because almost anyone can play – you don’t have to be in top shape to pick it up,” said Casey Anderson, Chair of the Montgomery County Planning Board. “It’s also a great way to meet people and make friends, so it helps keep people engaged and connected.” 

Local and state elected officials attended the event, including Montgomery County Councilmember and Parks Lead Andrew Friedson, Maryland State Senator for District 19 Benjamin Kramer, and Maryland State Delegates for District 19 Charlotte Crutchfield and Vaughn Stewart. 

“Quality parks and recreational facilities have always been crucial to the health, well-being and quality of life of our residents, and this has been especially clear during the pandemic,” said Councilmember Friedson. “These wonderful pickleball courts are just the latest example of how we’re adapting our public amenities to meet the changing needs of our community to ensure our parks and open spaces are inclusive for all ages, abilities, and interests.”  

“It is very exciting that Montgomery Parks has located its first dedicated pickleball courts at the Bauer Drive Local Park in Rockville,” said Senator Kramer. “Pickleball is an exciting sport that challenges a person’s reflexes and athletic skill with less stress on the joints than tennis. My thanks to M-NCPPC for prioritizing pickleball in Montgomery County.” 

“I’m excited for Maryland Legislative District 19 to be the “epicenter” of pickleball in Montgomery County, it is a sport that will continue to promote the health and wellness of our neighbors,” said Delegate Crutchfield.  

“Pickleball has become the fastest-growing sport in America, and as a regular player, I couldn’t be more excited about these dedicated courts,” said Delegate Vaughn Stewart. “Pickleball is great exercise and lots of fun, but more importantly, it’s a social game that builds community. I applaud everyone that made this amazing facility a reality.”

Elected officials and members of the community took advantage of the opportunity to participate in pickleball lessons and gain tips from Rob Campbell, USA Pickleball Association District Ambassador for Montgomery and Prince Georges counties. 

“The addition of the courts is a positive step in the right direction for the growth of pickleball in Montgomery County,” said Rob Campbell. 

Pickleball can be played across the county. Click here for more information on available courts.

Pickleball in Montgomery Parks

Pickleball is one of the fastest-growing sports both in Montgomery County, and nationally. Pickleball is a fun, fast-paced, but low-impact sport that is a combination of several classic games – badminton, tennis, and table tennis.

It’s played on either a shared court with tennis (players use existing net or bring their own net) or a dedicated court with a tennis-like net that is 34 inches high. The sport uses paddles slightly larger than ping pong, and a plastic whiffle ball.

Pickleball is easy for beginners of all ages to learn and often becomes very competitive among experienced players.  Pickleball provides opportunities for active and social experiences. The sport was earlier limited to indoor recreation centers, but there has been a rising demand for outdoor play facilities.

Montgomery Parks is actively working to increase the number of pickleball courts. In April 2019, Montgomery Parks concluded a Pickleball Study.

This study investigated service needs and gaps, user preference for facility location and design, and the service delivery strategies for a fast track implementation.

The study was a multi-year collaborative process with participation and inputs from various stakeholders — different sport court users (Pickleball, Tennis, and other users), agencies (like Recreation Department, and Municipalities), and citizen representatives — to identify best solutions for creating more opportunities for outdoor pickleball.

Parks with Pickleball Courts

Future Pickleball facilities (in order by anticipated completion date)

During its July 29th meeting, the Montgomery County Planning Board will review the design for the renovation of Columbia Local Park at 14900 Old Columbia Pike in Burtonsville.

Per the planning board documents, the recommended facility plan converts the two existing tennis courts into a dog park. The dog park consists of an 8,200-square-foot large dog area and a 2,700-square-foot small dog area, both accessed via a central, double-gated vestibule that allows owners to safely leash and unleash their dogs before entering or exiting the park.

Each enclosure is concrete paved and contains a pet turf play mound. Several benches line the perimeter of the dog park and each dog area has its own drinking fountain and trash receptacles. A shade structure spans the two enclosures, and additional trees will be planted around the exterior of the dog park, providing shade on hot days. A five-foot-tall chain link fence surrounds the dog park and each enclosure contains a double-leafed gate to allow maintenance access.

The large, abandoned paved area will be converted into one tennis court, four pickleball courts, a soccer court, and a small gathering area with shade structure. The tennis court and soccer court will each be surrounded by a ten-foot-tall chain link fence. Each court will have direct access for players as well as a double-leafed maintenance gate to facilitate leaf removal and other maintenance activities.

The pickleball courts will be separated by three-foot-tall fences and contain openings at the corners to allow players access to the courts from the east and the west. Based on the strong advocacy for pickleball expressed in the 2021 Open Town Hall Forum comments, the pickleball overlay on the tennis court was added back to the plan and will provide two additional pickleball courts when tennis isn’t being played.

The paved area just south of the soccer court and west of the pickleball courts will contain a drinking fountain, benches, picnic tables and a shade structure. This area provides a space for players to congregate while waiting for a court to free up or to socialize after a match.

The plan recommends painting the existing large shelter south of the proposed dog park and adding additional picnic tables to renew the facility. Proposed improvements also include enhanced pedestrian access to this portion of Columbia Local Park.

Within the parking lot, two existing parking spaces will be converted into ADA-compliant accessible parking spaces, and the parking lot will be renovated.

To connect the park to the neighborhood to the north, a set of stairs or ramp will be built into the steep slope just north of the proposed dog park, connecting the existing path that terminates there to the parking lot. The existing pathway between the old tennis courts and baseball field will be renovated to provide accessibility into and between the new amenities.

YMCA Bethesda-Chevy Chase Hosts Pickleball Pro Exhibition Event on June 7^th with #1 Ranked Pickleball Player in the World

Pickleball is the fastest growing sport in the United States and combines many elements of tennis, badminton and ping-pong.

To serve members of all ages in this easy-to-learn sport that brings all people together, the YMCA of Metropolitan Washington has set-up pickleball courts at YMCA’s across the DMV.  YMCA Bethesda-Chevy Chase (9401 Old Georgetown Road, Bethesda, MD 20814) currently boasts 14 courts and will host a Pickleball Exhibition event featuring Ben Johns, number one player in the world, and his brother Collin Johns, who plays with Ben on the number one doubles team in the world.

Local pickleball pros Sonny Tannan and Eric White will join the Johns brothers in this event on Monday, June 7, 2021 from 1:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.

A two-hour clinic will take place from 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. where participants can sign up to hone their skills with the pros. There are 32 spots available. The cost is $150 for members and $175 for non-members.

A two-hour Pro-Amateur Round Robin will take place from 3:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. with room for up to 32 participants to play with the pros. The cost is $40 member and $50 non-members.

The evening concludes with an exhibition doubles match featuring Ben Johns, Collin Johns, Sonny Tannan and Eric White from 6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m; and this is then followed a Q & A session with the pros. The exhibition doubles match is FREE to all who register to attend.

“The response to Pickleball has been overwhelming by our members.  Pickleball is an inclusive and social sport where you do not need to be athletic but still challenges you physically.  There are less injuries for adults, and it improves eye-hand coordination for children. We are proud that the Y will have a dedicated space that allows for individuals to meet other people and families to connect more.  Pickleball is the perfect pandemic sport since people can still socially distance and get great exercise both outdoors and indoors at an extremely affordable price” said Pamela Curran, executive vice president and COO for the YMCA of Metropolitan Washington.

To purchase a spot in the clinic or the Pro-Amateur Round Robin (or both!), or to register to attend the FREE exhibition, please visit the event information page at www.ymcadc.org/pickleball.

The YMCA is All in on Pickleball

The game of pickleball has become extremely popular in physical education classes in Montgomery County Public Schools. The rising popularity of the sport has led to several pickleball courts popping up across the county. Now, the YMCA is getting in on it, starting with both MoCo locations (Bethesda and Silver Spring).

Alex Tsironis, the physical education content specialist at North Bethesda Middle School (also the founder of The MoCoShow) told us that he was first introduced to the sport 4 years ago when he started teaching it. It quickly became one of the most popular activities in all P.E. classes at the school.

The YMCA of Metropolitan Washington will launch what will become one of the region’s largest Pickleball programs. The Y’s Pickleball program will open with more than 20 courts throughout the region this year and twice that number by the end of 2022. Pickleball will be offered at most Y locations beginning with YMCA Bethesda-Chevy Chase, YMCA Silver Spring and YMCA Arlington Tennis and Squash Center.  Participants can look forward to free open houses, demonstrations, tournaments, clinics and opportunities for volunteers to serve as league ambassadors.  An open house will take place on Thursday, May 20^th at YMCA Silver Spring from 5:30pm to 7:30pm.

Pickleball was created in 1965 by Congressman Joel Pritchard, Barney McCallum and Bill Bell during a summer vacation.  It was an attempt to entertain bored children using whatever equipment came to hand.  Now, decades later the sport has grown across the nation.  Pickleball combines elements of badminton, tennis, and ping-pong.  It can be played using relatively inexpensive paddles and plastic balls, on existing tennis courts (although the courts are outlined for Pickleball, which are badminton-sized.)

“The response to Pickleball has been overwhelming by our membership.   Pickleball is an inclusive and social sport that allows players to get outdoors, have fun and work out.   We are proud that the Y will have a dedicated spaces that allows for individuals to meet other people and families to connect more.  Pickleball is the perfect pandemic sport since people can still socially distance and get great exercise both outdoors and indoors at an extremely affordable price” said Pamela Curran, Executive Vice President and COO for the YMCA of Metropolitan Washington.

According to USA Pickleball, the sport is now played by over 3.3 million people.   The Y’s Pickleball monthly calendar of events will be released in a few weeks and more information will be available atwww.ymcadc.org.

Featured photo courtesy of the City of Rockville.