Plain Township to join growing list of Stark County communities with pickleball courts

PLAIN TWP. − The township's parks system will soon be out of a pickle.

While neighboring communities like Canton, North Canton, Louisville, Perry and Jackson townships and Green have had pickleball courts the last couple of years. Plain Township's parks haven't.

As the sport picked up in popularity locally, residents repeatedly asked if the township was going to get courts. Plain Township found itself on the outside looking in due to a lack of funding and rising costs.

But that changes in late August or early September. A contractor, paid in part from a grant, is scheduled to reconfigure and resurface two of the township's three tennis courts in Al Leno Park into four pickleball courts.

The 18-acre park, formerly Alpine Park, is at 3059 Alpine St. NE. It's connected by Pinetree Avenue NE to Easton Street NE near Oakwood Square east of Middlebranch Avenue NE.

The new pickleball courts are expected to be ready for use from dawn to dust by mid-September. The courts would be available on a first-come-first-serve basis.

Pickleball history

According to USA Pickleball, a state legislator in Washington state, Joel Pritchard, and two friends, Bill Bell and Barney McCallum created the game at Prichard's home on Bainbridge Island near Seattle in 1965. Pritchard's wife, Joan, dubbed the game "pickleball" in reference to pickle boats in crew rowed by competitors not chosen for other crew boats. And the equipment in pickleball was made up of "leftover" stuff from other games.

The game has been described as a mix of tennis, badminton and ping pong that uses a net and paddles. The size of the court is about half the size of a tennis court, making it easier for players of all ages.

Over the decades, the game spread throughout the country and into Northeast Ohio.

Steven Pustay, a retired GlenOak High School teacher and a board member of the local Hall of Fame City Pickleball Club, said Minerva is now also looking into building a pickleball court. Pustay said he's a volunteer consultant on pickleball court projects. He said he would hold clinics at Al Leno Park once the courts are set up.

Pustay estimated that more than 1,000 Stark County residents play the game.

“This has been a growing trend for the last decade," said Steinberg. "You realized this wasn’t a fad ... Pickleball is exploding."

The locations with pickleball courts in the greater Stark County area include, according to the Hall of Fame City Pickleball Club and Pickleheads site:

• Canton's Stadium Park, 10 outdoor courts

• North Canton, four outdoor courts at Glenwood SE and six outdoor courts at Arrowhead Golf Club.

• Jackson Township's North Park, eight outdoor courts

• Perry Township's Perry Park, four outdoor courts

• YMCA's in Stark County except Canal Fulton, at least one indoor court

• Hall of Fame Fitness Center, three indoor courts.

• North Canton Racquet Ball Club, indoor court

• Massillon Recreation Center, three indoor courts

• First Friends Church's gym on Market Avenue N and 55th Street NW, indoor court three days a week.

• Green's Boettler Park, six permanent and four temporary outdoor courts.

• Louisville's Aljancic Park, four outdoor courts. (Information has been corrected to fix an error. See correction below. 945 a.m. July 10)

• Massillon's Lincoln Park, one court.

• Alliance Recreation Center, three indoor courts.

• Alliance First Christian Church, two indoor courts.

Related: Massillon resident transforms old basketball court for growing sport of pickleball

Stymied by lack of funds

Steinberg said residents began asking for courts around 2018. He began looking into converting at least two of the township's three tennis courts at Al Leno Park into four pickleball courts with new bouncy surfaces. As part of the package, the third tennis court would be resurfaced. But the township didn't have a park levy until 2021. And funds were scarce. Steinberg's initial attempts at grant funding came up short.

And the costs of materials and labor surged.

Related: Pickleball picks up in Stark

Steinberg said he got a quote for the project of $49,610 in 2021 before he had lined up grant funding. The next year, the cost had risen to $55,000 to $60,000. In April, only one company submitted a bid. The total cost of four new pickleball courts and resurfacing the remaining tennis court was $89,517.

Trustees on April 25 awarded the project to the only bidder, Massillon-based Vasco Sports, which will resurface the tennis court and build the new pickleball courts over about two weeks. A $34,839 Ohio Department of Natural Resources grant will cover the additional expenses of converting the two tennis courts to four pickleball courts. The park levy will cover the rest of the cost.

On a recent evening, veteran player Kathy Ferry of Canton, who said she's played in out-of-town tournaments and Julie O'Brien of North Olmsted were playing doubles close to sunset at Canton's Stadium Park.

Ferry welcomed Plain Township adding four courts.

"We have a lot of pickleball players so the more the merrier," she said. "Everybody is playing."

O'Brien said, "This (sport) is going to be going on forever. It's here to stay."

North Canton caught pickleball wave

Catherine Farina, North Canton's deputy director of administration and park development, said due to residents' request for pickleball courts, especially from seniors, the city repurposed its tennis courts on Glenwood Street NE in 2019 into four pickleball courts. However, the city didn't resurface the courts. The courts have dead spots. Farina said the city is looking at resurfacing the courts next year, which could cost about $75,000.

She said the city built six new pickleball courts at its Arrowhead Golf Club, which it opened in May 2022. Officials hoped to draw pickleball players to buy food at the club as pickleball tends to be a social game. Now, the city is working with the North Canton YMCA, which has three indoor courts, to set up a pickleball league.

Patrick DeOrio, director of administration for North Canton, said he wants to be careful on where the city places pickleball courts since it is a very social game where the participants can cause a lot of noise. But so far, the city hasn't received noise complaints.

“It's gaining a lot of momentum," DeOrio said about the game. "You know it is when you get these young kids wanting to play it. It was pretty much for older folks. It’s not as intense as tennis. It's catching on with all age groups.”

He said the city was looking at reconfiguring the Glenwood courts to fit six pickleball courts there instead of four. And the city is considering placing four pickleball courts at Dogwood Park.

On Saturday, Brent Oswald played with his son, Jacob, at North Canton's Glenwood Street NE facility. Three of the four courts were being used.

"I love that the community added them," Brent Oswald said about the Glenwood courts. When hearing that Plain Township was adding courts at Al Leno Park, he said, "It's great. It's a fun game to play. It's become very popular. And we need more courts in the area."

Reach Robert at robert.wang@cantonrep.com. Twitter: @rwangREP.

CORRECTION: The name of the Louisville park with pickleball is Aljancic Park. The name was incorrect when this story first published.

This article originally appeared on The Repository: Plain Township to add four pickleball courts to Al Leno Park