Grant jumpstarts pickleball courts

Pickleball has been named America's fastest-growing sport for the third year in a row in the 2024 Sports & Fitness Industry Association (SFIA) Topline Participation Report. The report shows participation grew 51.8 percent from 2022 to 2023. In 2023, the 65+ age group was tied for having the second highest number of participants.

In 2023 alone there were over 35 million pickleball players and it was growing exponentially at a rate of 158 percent over the last three years.

Photo by Bill Bartlett

Pickleball is a very popular sport in Sisters Country.

The raging popularity of pickleball is in evidence in Sisters where hundreds of devotees compete vigorously, not just in the sport, but for court time. There are no public courts in Sisters. All are in private subdivisions, one of which -Sage Meadow - is home to Pine Valley tennis Club (PVTC).

In a creative transaction designed to vastly increase the number of courts in Sisters, PVTC has donated the land on which the courts sit to a 501(c)(3) foundation thereby avoiding any tax liability. In turn the foundation - SOAR - sold the land for $333,000 and will donate the proceeds to Sisters Park & Recreation District (SPRD).

At the same time, SPRD is awaiting approval of its $750,000 grant application to Oregon Parks and Recreation Department. The grant funds and additional funding from the City of Sisters will enable SPRD to build eight pickleball courts along with other amenities when SPRD takes over the property of the former Sisters Elementary School.

The SOAR Foundation was originally founded in 1995 and was the predecessor to SPRD. In 2004, the SOAR Foundation raised more than $1 million to build the Coffield Community Center that serves as the headquarters for SPRD programs.

"Having access to an additional source of funding is critical to the growth and prosperity of SPRD," said Jennifer Holland, executive director of SPRD. "While the funding from property taxes and the local option levy help subsidize a portion of our operating expenses, the ability to increase our capabilities to better serve the community through an outside funding organization will be important to meet the needs of this growing community."

Bob Winn, PVTC Treasurer said,"We have a growing base of pickleball enthusiasts, and we wanted to find a way to expand the court capacity in the area. Having a certified non-profit like the SOAR Foundation allowed us to transfer the full value of our land to a worthy cause. We see this as a win-win for the community."

Pickleball is a combination of three different sports: tennis, ping-pong, and badminton, played on a smaller version of a tennis court. You can either play singles or doubles which means there will be two or four people playing on the court at once. Each competitor has a ping pong paddle in their hand and hits a plastic ball back and forth to the other side.

The winning point is awarded to the competitor who either misses the ball on their side or if the opponent knocks the ball out of bounds. This is not a sport that requires vast amounts of agility and cardio, as does tennis. It is easier and more manageable, making it a good sport for people of all ages, including kids and seniors.