Pickleball, the fastest growing sport in the country is bursting at the seams right here in Bartlett.
Organizers say the third annual Bartlett Pickleball Tournament — slated for April 1-2 this year — has grown steadily every year, and the 2016 event has shot past the projected 20 percent growth goal.
Pickleball is a racquet sport that combines elements of badminton, tennis and table tennis. Two to four players use solid paddles to hit a perforated polymer ball, similar to a wiffle ball, over a net.
The Bartlett tournament is a local event but it draws players from five states. The tournament is full with 40-plus people on the waiting list.
That’s the issue with the local Pickleball community. The popularity of the game has outgrown the available facilities to play it.
The tournament is hosted at the only two facilities in Bartlett that currently accommodate the game: The Bartlett Recreation Center and Singleton Community Center. The two-day tournament (Friday night and all day Saturday) is divided into men’s doubles, women’s doubles and mixed doubles and also by skill level.
There will be beginners and national champions playing in their respective skill level and age groups.
Octogenarian Ann Henning, a Memphian and national champion, will be playing with her daughter in the Women’s Division and her son in the mixed division.
Another big name in pickleball circles is Marvin Sterling, a Bartlett resident iand a national silver medalist.
Rick Bowers, one of the tourney’s organizers said, “The quality of play here will be very high, and the success of last year’s event has put it on the radar and made it a destination event, bringing people from a 300-mile radius to our city.”
There are more than a dozen indoor facilities at churches and other community centers in the Memphis area, where the game is played on the basketball courts (three pickleball courts on one basketball court). At each of these locations, pckleball competes with other sports and activities for court time. The time allotted to Pickleball is less than the proven demand for these adults and seniors to play.
Typically there will be 24-30 players at a site where only three courts (accommodating 12 players) are available.
Everyone has learned to share, Bowers said. They shorten the games from 21 points to 11 points and sometimes down to just nine points. They’ve invented creative fair ways to see who gets to play next to eliminate bullying.
There is a loud cry for more courts, especially outdoor courts, which is how it is played most often around the country, Bowers said.
“The question being asked here is, how can we convert the underutilized tennis courts to pickleball?” he asked. “It can’t be too difficult — hundreds of other cities and communities have done it.”
For more information, contact Bowers at (901) 210-6943 or via email to rrbowers44@yahoo.com.
