matters
Regional
continued
Charleston Poised
to be a Top Pickleball
Destination
BY SCOTT MANNETTA
C
harleston, SC, is poised to become one of the top
pickleball destinations in the country. With its
already booming tourism, cruise ships, dining,
shopping and beaches, Charleston is fully embracing
the culture of pickleball, as evidenced by the Family
Circle Tennis Center—a world-class tennis facility now
offering a full suite of pickleball programming. Membership
is growing daily, and the center is quickly running out
of court space.
With its strong tennis culture, Charleston has been slow to
embrace pickleball, but tennis pros and players are beginning
to see the fun and competition pickleball offers as well as
the market potential. In mid-June, Charleston hosted a PPR
Workshop and spots filled quickly. At the moment, there are
numerous public tennis courts with painted pickleball lines,
and many private communities have done the same at the
request of residents. The first community, Planters Point,
has now converted space into two dedicated pickleball courts
in Mt. Pleasant.
For a long time, picklers in Charleston scrambled to find
space, but the need is finally being fulfilled with Family Circle
Tennis and Live to Play Tennis. The Medical University of South
Carolina (MUSC) recently painted four courts on the roof of
the Wellness Center, and a proposed private tennis/pickleball
center will soon break ground on 12 pickleball courts
in Mt. Pleasant in addition to the countless other venues
with painted lines across Charleston.
The Volvo Car Open Tennis Tournament also hosted a
weeklong Pickleball Expo, sponsored by MUSC. Tens of
thousands visited the event, and about 100 people per day
were introduced to the sport. There were 75 to 100 ball girls/
boys at the event who were eager to play pickleball during
their off-duty time. Children love pickleball, too!
Pickleball is One of the
Most Popular Sports
at 10 th Annual Meijer State Games of Michigan
T
he Meijer State Games of Michigan is one of the
country’s largest gatherings of amateur athletes.
The multi-sport, Olympic-style competition is open
to athletes of all ages and abilities. The event held in
Grand Rapids celebrated its 10-year anniversary this
year and, once again, pickleball was one of the most popular
sports among the 48 on the program. In all, 12,000 athletes
participated in the 2019 Meijer State Games.
The pickleball tournament had the longest waitlist of any of
the other sports due to its high demand. “The growth of the
sport of pickleball in our region has just been remarkable,”
said Keith Wolverton, Regional Director of the Great Lakes
Region for the USAPA. “The number of players and teams
in the Meijer Games alone continues to swell and next year
we should break the 500-player barrier, which would be
tremendous.” Led by the Grand Rapids Pickleball Club, the
pickleball tournament was held at nearby Belknap Park.
Nearly 400 participants hit the courts, with the youngest
competitor at 14 years old while a 78-year-old pickleball
player was the tournament’s oldest. Additionally, three
wheelchair players were
among the event’s entrants.
In the last year alone, Grand Rapids
has seen a nearly 30 percent rise in
the number of pickleball players—and
if the recent playing of the Meijer State
Games of Michigan is any indication,
that waitlist will continue to grow.
JULY/AUGUST 2019 |
MAGAZINE
63