Athens Picklefest: Largest local tournament draws more than 200 players

Nov. 2—ATHENS — While brainstorming early this summer, the three officers of a pickleball organization in Athens decided their growing sport deserved a large tournament locally, and they proceeded to plan it.

"We wanted to provide an opportunity for competitive play, and we wanted to showcase our city because it brings in tourists," said Rhonda Weatherford, president of the Athens, Alabama Pickleball Association.

The result was the inaugural Picklefest last weekend that made Athens the first city in the Decatur area to hold a major pickleball event, but indications are it won't be the last.

Blake Williams, head of marketing for Picklefest, said 223 players entered from five states, including Alabama, with a player from Utah traveling the farthest. He said 71 local players participated in the event Friday through Sunday at the Athens Sportsplex.

"We marketed this in multiple ways," Weatherford said. "We went and visited other clubs and gave out flyers. We literally drove out into other areas and found players and put (a flyer) in their hands."

Weatherford said the group hopes its tournaments only get bigger.

"We intend to have one twice a year, spring and fall," she said. "We're targeting April (for the next tournament). We're still trying to coordinate schedules on that."

Angie Walk, 55, traveled six hours from Mississippi last weekend to compete in the Picklefest. She said she took up pickleball because it's a sport someone her age can easily learn and play. Walk said she plays pickleball five or six times a week. She said she has traveled to many tournaments, with one in New Orleans the farthest from her home.

"I did play tennis for a number of years, so it was an easy transition to move to pickleball," Walk said. "It is easy to learn and even someone my age in my 50s is able to get pretty proficient in the sport."

Bert Bradford, Athens Cemetery, Parks and Recreation director, said he believes the sport will become more popular. Pickleball uses paddles like in Ping-Pong, only they're larger. At 20-by-44 feet, a pickleball court has the same dimensions as a badminton doubles court but is smaller than a tennis court, requiring less running. The plastic ball is perforated, reducing its speed.

"I think the sport's growing, I think it's going to continue to grow. I don't think this is a fad," Bradford said. "I think the use of the pickleball courts that we put in will probably determine how many more (tournaments) come into the city; I think the public will dictate that."

Future in Decatur

Aaron Lang, Decatur Parks and Recreation operations superintendent, said Decatur has 14 indoor and outdoor pickleball courts spread across the city with plans to make eight more. He said as they create more courts, they would like to have large tournaments.

"To really host a tournament, you've got to have several (courts)," Lang said. "Maybe in the future we will be looking at building some pickleball courts to host some larger pickleball tournaments."

Don Dukemineer, director of sports development for Decatur Morgan County Tourism, said Decatur is still in a learning phase with pickleball. He said the sport has been growing across the country quickly enough that there's no doubt tournaments would boost tourism in the city.

"I think we just want to keep seeing the interest grow in pickleball in the city," Dukemineer said. "And also, to be able to add that to our portfolio of being able to host some good pickleball events."

Susan Spencer, 58, lives in Georgia now but grew up in Athens and still returns frequently to visit her mother. She said she had a few friends playing in Picklefest and simply enjoyed watching last weekend's event, but she eventually wants to learn how to play. Spencer said Picklefest was a good event for Athens.

"I think it brings a lot of people together, it gets a lot of people active and moving and you meet people you didn't know," she said. "It's social and it's active so I think it's great."

Athens has several sets of pickleball courts. Bradford said six semi-temporary courts are marked with tape on tennis courts at Swan Creek Park. There are one permanent and three temporary indoor pickleball courts inside of the Sportsplex. However, Picklefest used temporary outdoor courts at the Sportsplex.

"We ... taped off courts on top of the tennis courts. We have six tennis courts, but (it held) 12 pickleball courts for the tournament," Bradford said.

He said plans call for building six pickleball courts at Big Spring Park out of two tennis courts, but the city has had difficulty getting a contractor to bid on the job. He said they are unsure when work will begin or be completed on those courts.

Growing sport

USA Pickleball says a Sports Fitness Industry Association report shows pickleball grew to 4.8 million U.S. players in 2021, an increase of 14.8% from a year earlier. That followed growth of 21.3% the previous year and contributed to an 11.5% average annual growth rate over the past five years.

Bradford said one reason Athens decided to build pickleball courts is because the sport appeals to many people.

"The advantage of this is you can be as young as you want to be ... and I think there's a man in his 90s that comes and plays," he said. "It crosses a wide range, a lot of age groups, a lot of abilities. So, I think it just piques the interest of a lot of people."

Bradford said he believed Picklefest would be good for people from other states to see what this area of the country is like. He said a tournament also benefits the local economy.

"It's got to help hotels, restaurants, gas, downtown, people want to see the town. Anything like this is positive, gets people out and active, moving around," he said.

The event had only a minor impact on local hotels. Snadip Patel, general manager of Days Inn & Suites by Wyndham in Athens, said there were only six or seven rooms occupied for the tournament. Breanna Box, operations manager of Fairfield Inn & Suites by Marriott in Athens, said they had no rooms used for the tournament.

Walk said she did some sightseeing before playing Friday and planned to try out the local restaurants.

"We heard about historical downtown. We sort of walked our dogs down there and it's just gorgeous," she said. "Just the character of this town, we are just so impressed with that."

Walk said the tournament is a great way to expose visitors to the town.

"Anytime you bring people to a town, that introduces them to it, some folks will say, it's a great town. They'll want to come back," she said.

Weatherford said they received positive feedback.

"They were really impressed with the city of Athens itself, with just what a lovely, small town it was to enjoy the downtown area and the restaurants. They had a good time here," she said. "Then they also just spoke to this being such a professionally organized tournament that was not only good for being our first one, but was good even if it were our tenth."

Williams said the tournament exceeded Athens organizers' expectations.

"Our goal was only 100 (participants) and we (had) double what we expected," he said.

Weatherford said they would need to look at the venue size for bigger tournaments. She said she would like to see the number of courts in Athens grow to 18 to 24.

—erica.smith@decaturdaily.com or 256-340-2460.