Feature
BREAKING GROUND : A LOOK BACK AT THE GROWTH OF PICKLEBALL FACILITIES IN 2022
By Melissa Zhang
USA PICKLEBALL DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS & CONTENT
Pickleball players gather around one of the fire tables at The Hub in San Diego , which officially opened in January . Photo credit : Pat Rolfes .
As the pickleball community turns its focus toward a new year , one aspect of the sport ’ s growth is nearly impossible to overlook . With new venues of all shapes and sizes popping up across the country , facility growth in the United States isn ’ t just trending upward , it ’ s quite literally booming .
2022 marked a year of unprecedented growth for facilities . Approximately 1,200 new sites were launched last year alone , bringing the total number of pickleball venues that USA Pickleball is tracking to nearly 11,000 nationwide .
One such venue is Pickles , a private pickleball facility in Massachusetts co-founded by Lisa DeMeritt and Wanda Melampy .
DeMeritt ’ s husband , Dustin , who handles public relations and marketing for Pickles , said the club is a place for people to learn how to play pickleball .
More than half of the registered players at Pickles had never held a paddle before , so a major focus is teaching the sport of pickleball . “ Demand for lessons , clinics and leagues has soared ,” said Dustin DeMeritt . “ Our mission is to connect people of all ages , shapes , backgrounds , beliefs and abilities — so that they can elevate themselves , enrich the lives of others and find a sense of belonging anywhere . We ’ re just glad we can play a small part in that .”
Carl Schmits , USA Pickleball ’ s managing director of facilities and equipment , says his team witnessed a massive influx of facility-related requests over the past year .
“ We were extraordinarily busy in 2022 , fielding questions from operators to entrepreneurs to developers to municipalities ,” he explained . “ In many cases , we ’ ve provided help in identifying the potential economic impact to a community or market , and