COLONIE — Pickleball has become the hottest year-round sport in Colonie, and the town is making it more accessible by expanding its public courts.
This trendy sport has become a fixture at various indoor and outdoor venues around town.
As of now, Interested players looking for an outside game can play the sport at Milton Pocket Park, Bauer Park and Locust Park in the Village of Colonie. The Town of Colonie constructed two new pickleball courts last summer at the Latham Kiwanis Park. For inside courts, the CDPHP Fitness Connect at the Ciccotti Center has its own set of pickleball nets set up in the facility.
This year, Mohawk River Park will soon be another spot for playing pickleball. The town is constructing eight pickleball courts and two tennis courts with construction set to begin on the project in early May.
On Thursday, April 20, the Town Board approved a contract with Afsco Fence Supply Company Inc. to provide fencing for the Mohawk River Park courts and sports equipment project. The total bid price of $126,140 was approved by the director of purchasing and general services and the town attorney.
The town also approved the bid from LaBella Associates to construct the new parking lot and surface the pickleball and tennis courts at Mohawk River Park. The total cost of construction is to not exceed $38,500.
Ciccotti Center Director Scott Bergen talked about pickleball’s benefits to the community and how the center has catered to players during the winter months and for instruction.
“Pickleball is huge here,” Bergen said. “We get anywhere from 60 to 70 people at each time slot for it, and we offer it Monday through Friday during the day for three- and four-hour time slots. We’ll have four courts going at a time and a bunch of people waiting, so it’s growing tremendously.”
Pickleball, Bergen added, has been really blowing up across the country. The sport has attracted both seasoned athletes and active older adults.
Although the center doesn’t have pickleball leagues, Bergen wants to run some tournaments and start up pickleball clinics.Interested members can schedule a time to tour the center, speak to staff, and get set up for membership.
Bergen wants to encourage other town residents who play at the town outdoor courts to take part in future tournaments and clinics at the Ciccotti Center.
Players can play pickleball at the beginner level up to advanced and competitive levels. Playing the game benefits everyone.
“With pickleball, it allows anyone to play, from kids to active older adults,” Bergen said. “It doesn’t limit or constrain you because you can play doubles where you’re not moving as much and it’s a wiffleball so it’s not as fast as a tennis ball. Those changes with the sport opens it up to more people which is really great.”
April is National Pickleball Month and pickleball has become the hottest year-round sport in Colonie.
So what is
Pickleball?
According to USA Pickleball, pickleball combines elements of badminton, ping-pong, and tennis. The sport was invented in 1965 on Bainbridge Island, Wash., at the home of state congressman Joel Pritchard.
Pritchard and businessman Bill Bell were looking for something fun to do with their families.Prichard had a badminton court set up outside his home and he and Bell searched for some badminton equipment but could not find a full set of rackets to use. Both men found ping-pong paddles and a perforated plastic ball to play the game.
Pritchard and Bell, along with another friend, Barney McCallum, made rules that relied heavily on badminton. Their playing net for the new sport was lowered to three feet and using an asphalt surface was perfect for ball bouncing.The inventors’ mission to create a sport that an entire family could play together was made.
The first ever pickleball court was made in the backyard of Prichard’s neighbor and friend Bob O’Brian in 1967, and in 1972 a corporation was formed to protect the creation of pickleball.
For over 50 years, pickleball has retained its popularity amongst players of all ages and has spread throughout the nation.
Yearly, the Ciccotti Center serves thousands of members who take on athletic activities. On certain weekdays, at least 100 people take part in playing pickleball in one day, Bergen said.
Pickleball arrived at the Ciccotti Center around five or six years ago. When the sport first came to the center, it wasn’t as popular to members then.
“The past two or three years is when pickleball really started to take off (at Ciccotti Center),” Bergen said.
“Adding pickleball has been a nice feature, and it adds that diversity,” Bergen said. “We serve anyone from children as young as six months old to 99 years old. Pickleball adds another dimension of that to the center.”
As long as a player can hit the ball over the net, players from as young as six or seven years old and up are able to play pickleball.
People can go to the Ciccotti’s Center’s website or their Facebook page to learn more about the center. Any questions or inquiries to follow up with can be made either online or during a visit to the center.
Kathy Leyden, Director of Community Engagement at CDPHP is a pickleball fan who expressed her love of the sport during the Ciccotti’s Center’s third annual Just For the Health of It event.
“It’s the fastest growing sport. It really is so much fun,” Leyden said. “I encourage anybody no matter what their athletic ability is to get out there and give it a try. … It’s lots of laughs. You meet so many great people playing pickleball. And that’s what I love the most about it.”
Leyden first became involved in pickleball through a friend who convinced her to give it a try. Leyden said she didn’t play tennis in high school and was uncertain how she would do in the new sport.
Leyden’s friend told her not to worry. She gave it a try, learned the ropes from her friend and now finds pickleball to be addicting.
“You play with all ages so you can be playing next to somebody that’s 20 years older than you, and then you’re playing with somebody that’s in their teens,” Leyden added. “We’re all playing together and it’s pretty unique in that way.”
She said there’s skill involved that you develop over time because there are a lot of rules involved.
“But you learn it all and it’s pretty easy to play.” Leyden concluded.
She said both CDPHP and Ciccotti Center bring the community together through fitness and pickleball.
“Our partnership has been tremendously successful because our plans are so well aligned.” Leyden said. “This center is such a resource for the community. It’s really a gem in the Capital Region.”