Conflict Erupts Between Pickleball Players and Tennis Players Over Court Usage

Pickleball is a racket sport enjoying rapidly increasing popularity in the United States. The inventive game mixes elements of tennis, badminton, and ping pong. It’s also popular because of the flexibility it offers in terms of playing surface, adaptable to indoor and outdoor environments.

However, because of the limited avenues available to players in terms of playing surfaces, they’ve been using tennis courts.

Lack of facilities to play Pickleball

The pickleball players from Gilroy, California, had to resort to travel twenty minutes to use a school’s courts because of conflict with their local tennis club. After the indoor facilities for pickleball were shut down due to Covid regulations, the players used the courts maintained by the Gilroy Tennis Club.

Pickleball requires shorter court spaces with different dimensions to a tennis court. To demarcate this, the players used tape on the court. The tape, however, left permanent damage, leading to conflict with the tennis players.

August 09 2015: View of the stadium during the ATP men’s singles final between John Isner (USA) and Kei Nishikori (JPN) at the CITI Open tennis tournament at the Rock Creek Tennis Center, in Washington D.C. Kei Nishikori won 4-6, 6-4, 6-4. (Photo by Tony Quinn/Corbis/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

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How did the tennis players react?

Last year, pickleball players used the tennis courts for a particular duration. But later on, the tennis players expressed their frustration at giving away the courts. The lines on the courts made it confusing for the players and left permanent marks.

NEW YORK, NY – SEPTEMBER 01: A general view of Arthur Ashe Stadium with the roof closed during the second round Men’s Singles match between Andy Murray of Great Britain and Marcel Granollers of Spain on Day Four of the 2016 US Open at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center on September 1, 2016 in the Flushing neighborhood of the Queens borough of New York City. (Photo by Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)

Ray Blagof, an active member of the club, stated his opinion on this conflict. He said, “never seen such horrendous issues since pickleball came on board to Las Animas Park. They want to take over those courts and they want to take away the ability for us to have tournaments.”

According to members, the Gilroy Tennis Club has generated more than $200,000 to maintain the courts in Las Animas Park. Throughout the course of its almost 50-year history, the club has been replacing nets, installing bleachers, and working on other projects. Hopefully, a resolution will be soon reached between the tennis and pickleball players.

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