NEW ORLEANS — When you cross tennis with ping pong and badminton you get pickleball. It’s a sport that has been getting a lot of traction with players across the country and here at home. Fans of the world's fastest growing sport now have a place to play here at home. City Park unveiled its brand-new pickle ball court just a few hours ago.
Dozens of devoted pickleball fans turned out for the grand opening and of course stuck around for the free day of play. From 10am to 6pm anyone regardless of skill level played to celebrate the occasion, a few pickle ball pros were also on stand but to teach the basics.
Chris Maitre, the Chief Operation Officer for City Park said community members have been asking for months for pickleball courts. "We’ve had tremendous requests. We’ve gotten peppered with emails and phone calls of people asking,' when are you going to get pickle ball?' We couldn’t add it soon enough."
The four new pickleball courts used to be home to a tennis court that was used for target practice. Maitre said it wouldn't get much use, so the team felt it was the perfect place to have a pickleball court.
“It’s really simple, real basic rules and its super fun to play for all ages. The demand is high, the reservation process is simple, they can call our tennis center or come in person. It's $10 per court for an hour," said Maitre.
If you’re wondering, it’s called pickleball because one of the creators decided to name it after their dog, Pickles.
They have already got interest from people looking to book the courts 6 months out. There has also been interest from some groups looking to host pickle ball tournaments there too.
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