McKey Park hosts third Titletown Throwdown
Apr. 18—VALDOSTA — The nation's fastest growing sport made its way to Valdosta over the weekend.
The Georgia Pickleball Association held its third annual Titletown Throwdown at the Harry B. Anderson Tennis Center at McKey Park Saturday.
Players ranging in age from 17 to over 70 battled it out in the springtime heat as more than 180 players converged on the courts from all over South Georgia and North Florida to compete — making it the largest pickleball tournament Valdosta has ever hosted.
John Walker, a familiar face in Valdosta as a game official for high school basketball, was one of the players participating.
Walker, who took up pickleball after the COVID-19 pandemic shutdown in 2020, talked about what drew him to the sport after a match Saturday.
"After COVID hit, we were playing morning basketball and they shut the gyms down so it pushed us outside to an outdoor sport and that's how I got into pickleball," Walker said.
The Titletown Throwdown was Walker's fourth pickleball tournament and with McKey Park beginning construction on 12 new pickleball courts at the tennis center, Walker also spoke about how the rapidly growing sport continues to pick up steam in Valdosta.
"Pickleball is the only sport in the world that a 15-year-old can get on the court and compete with an 80-year-old and the games can actually be competitive," Walker said. "I think that's why it's becoming widespread and it's blowing up right now."
Valdosta's footprints are all over a variety of sports. Obviously football is king and baseball has always been popular, but other sports are thriving as well.
McKey Park has hosted several USTA-sanctioned tennis tournaments and the tennis community in the area is quite healthy. With pickleball making its way to tennis courts all over the country, tennis lovers have griped about their beloved courts being encroached upon by its neighboring upstart.
Valdosta is the latest city to embrace the arrival of pickleball and not only accept the growing sport, but put forth the funds to create space it moving forward.
"I think it's huge," Walker said. "Valdosta's probably one of the only surrounding cities that don't have (pickleball courts). There's plenty of courts in Moultrie, Thomasville, Albany and I think that with courts coming here, we're all excited about them. It'll draw a lot of people from the east coast to come down to little Valdosta and boost the economy and help bring all kinds of revenue to Valdosta."
Shane Thomas is the sports editor at the Valdosta Daily Times.
