Michigan's largest pickleball facility about to open in Ann Arbor
If there were any doubt that pickleball — a funny-sounding, fast-growing sport — is all the rage, especially among the senior set, consider that not only are communities nationwide adding courts, but reality TV is highlighting the game.
Wolverine Pickleball, a privately owned club, opened a $7 million massive indoor-outdoor facility in Scio township at 235 Metty Drive, near Ann Arbor, on Friday so folks can play the game.
The club said that the 39,000-square-foot facility will be the state’s largest.
In Plymouth, the Michigan Economic Development Corp. is promising to give $50,000 to the Plymouth Arts & Recreation Complex, if the nonprofit can raise that much by Jan. 14, to build four new, permanent pickleball courts.
"Plymouth is long overdue for outdoor pickleball courts," Mark Malcom and Pete Lamoureux, who are credited with organizing the project, said in written remarks. "So far, we’ve secured a great site and partial funding."
The nonprofit has already raised more than $32,000 toward its commitment.
More: Pickleball popularity soars, but expansion at Birmingham Country Club is getting pushback
And pickleball was the group-date physical activity of choice on national television during the "Golden Bachelor," a spinoff dating reality series for — what shall we call them? — folks in their golden years looking for love, or a second chance at it.
Pickleball is like tennis, but on a smaller court. It is slower paced, less physical and much more social because it doesn't require the same level of concentration and exertion.
Players 55 and older, make up more than half of the sport’s diehard players.
The "Golden Bachelor" contestants, including 72-year-old widower Gerry Turner, seemed to enjoy playing. Some, like Turner, were familiar with the game, while others acknowledged picking up pickleball paddles for the first time.
The show, USA Today reported in October, split eight of the nine remaining contestants into four teams of two to vie for Turner's attention in a converted tennis court arena at the Westlake Athletic Club, about 35 miles outside of Los Angeles.
Turner, USA Today noted, fits "right into the core demo of the national pickleball explosion." He also, it turns out, "plays several times a week with a circle of 25 close friends near his Indiana home."
Wolverine Pickleball, which is seeking to garner some excitement and publicity for its facility, held a ribbon-cutting ceremony at 11 a.m. It showed off what it has to offer players — for a fee, of course.
Indoors, Wolverine Pickleball said, the facility includes 12 pickleball courts, a lounge, a pro shop and a bar. Outdoors, it offers bocce ball, cornhole, volleyball and beach tennis, along with a lounge area and fire pits.
The organization’s announcement credited entrepreneurs Christy Howden and Leslie White with the club's vision, adding they worked to open such a place "to accommodate the popularity of the sport while creating a community of players."
Contact Frank Witsil: 313-222-5022 or fwitsil@freepress.com.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Wolverine Pickleball facility to open in Ann Arbor
