Doubles play
By Emma Castleberry
Created by vacationers on Bainbridge Island near Seattle in 1965, pickleball is a hybrid game with elements of Ping-Pong, badminton and tennis. Between 2020 and 2021, the sport grew by nearly 15 percent, now with an estimated 4.8 million players in the US according to the Sports & Fitness Industry Association. There’s no denying it: pickleball is taking the world by storm—and Asheville is no exception.
Pickleheads.com, a website that helps players find courts and organize sessions, reports that Asheville is home to 13 pickleball courts, making it one of the most popular cities in NC for the activity. “Pickleball is so much more than a sport,” says Brandon Mackie, cofounder of Pickleheads. “For many, it’s a community and source of social connection. It keeps people active and I think it’s just good all around for local communities.”
Asheville residents can find free courts in Montford Park, Oakley Park and Mills River Park. There are also robust pickleball communities at the membership-only Asheville Racquet Club and Country Club of Asheville.
Michael Kinnear, director of Pickleball at Asheville Racquet Club since October of 2020, discovered ickleball five years ago at the YMCA in Hendersonville. “It is an intellectual game as much or more than an athletic sport and so it appeals to a wide audience,” he says. “It is also an unresolved sport—nobody really knows the best way to play it yet, partly because technology also keeps changing which significantly impacts how it is played. It feels a bit like the Wild West with multiple competing rating systems and organizations attempting to shape the sport’s future.”
Kinnear adds that anyone who can hold a paddle and move at least three miles an hour can play pickleball with some success, and the community is welcoming to any and all players. Kinnear teaches private and group lessons at Asheville Racquet Club South, where there are also two Pickleball 101 classes each week, free to members and $15 for nonmembers. Kinnear also teaches a three-week course with one-hour pickleball classes each week that costs $50 per participant, and there is a Pickleball Juniors program, too. Loaner paddles are available and participants need to wear non-marking tennis or court shoes.
Asheville Parks and Recreation (APR) manages 12 public outdoor pickleball courts and six indoor courts. “As both tennis and pickleball have experienced exceptional growth during and following the COVID-19 pandemic, local players of both sports came together with ideas to balance and expand shared court usage to support both racquet sports,” says Christo Bubenik, program and operations manager at APR. “Through this process, Asheville Pickleball Association was incorporated. Ideally, we’ll be able to invest in the development and expansion of sport-specific sites. In the short term, all public outdoor tennis courts will also be dual-lined for pickleball this year.”
With a low barrier to entry and a high likelihood of fun, it’s obvious why pickleball has become so popular. “My hope is everyone gets the opportunity to play pickleball, and we’re working hard to provide the tools and resources to make that happen,” says Mackie.
For more information, visit AshevilleRacquetClub.com, CCofAsheville.com and Pickleheads.com.
