PICTONA - A NEW
by Danielle
From French monks batting the ball around with their hands in the 12th century to the first game of tennis at Wimbledon , racquet sports have long enamored athletes and spectators of all ages with their fast-paced games and competitions .
With the evolution of racquet sports has come one of today ’ s hottest trends – pickleball , a combination of ping-pong , badminton and tennis .
Since pickleball ’ s creation in 1965 by Washington congressman Joel Pritchard and family friends Bill Bell and Barney McCallum , the sport has grown rapidly in popularity . Earning a legion of enthusiasts around the world that have made their presence known , especially in Florida , the United States alone was home to 4.2 million pickleball players in 2020 , according to the 2021 Topline Participation Report from the Sports & Fitness Industry Association .
Capitalizing on the latest sports craze that has cities across the nation building courts to accommodate pickleball enthusiasts , the City of Holly Hill is ahead of the curve , unveiling the world-class Pictona at Holly Hill facility in June 2020 .
A unique mix of public and private partnerships was painstakingly crafted to bring the project to fruition and the result has been the creation of something even more exciting than just a sports venue . It ’ s a new gem in Holly Hill ! Overcoming hurdles since the concept ’ s origination in 2015 , it was willingness on the part of the City of Holly Hill to envision what could be and a forecasting of opportunity that enabled city manager Joe Forte and the city commission to take a leap of faith . Committing $ 1.3 million of the city ’ s resources to the project , combined with a $ 400,000 ECHO grant from Volusia County , the city transformed the little-used Hollyland baseball / softball complex into Pictona .
It was also a willingness from the private sector to ‘ put skin
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