Palatine Park District Expands Pickleball Offerings
According to the USA Pickleball Association, “Pickleball is a fun game that is played on a badminton court with the net lowered to 34 inches at the center. It is played with a perforated plastic baseball (similar to a whiffle ball) and wood or composite paddles. It is easy for beginners to learn, but can develop into a quick, fast-paced, competitive game for experienced players.” Pickleball can be played as singles or doubles, and offers a fun way to fit a new racquet sport into your recreation regimen.
Palatine Park District offers three Pickleball options for the community. Indoor Pickleball is offered at Falcon Park Recreation Center, 2195 N. Hicks Road, throughout the year. Pickleball for the 50+ Crowd is played on Mondays and Fridays from 9am to noon, and a new Pickleball group for adults ages 18 and over will be played on Wednesdays from 9am to noon beginning November 20. This new program will be operated on a drop in basis through May 28. The weekly fee is $2 for players with a current Palatine Park District ID, and $3 for those without an ID. During the summer months, Pickleball is offered outdoors at no charge at Sycamore Park located at 901 N. Clark Drive in Palatine.
The following history of pickleball was found at www.usapa.org, the website of the USA Pickleball Association: “After playing golf one Saturday during the summer of 1965, Joel Pritchard, congressman from Washington State and Bill Bell, successful businessman, returned to Pritchard's home on Bainbridge Island, WA to find their families sitting around with nothing to do. The property had an old badminton court so Pritchard and Bell looked for some badminton equipment and could not find a full set of rackets. They improvised, cutting shafts off the damaged rackets and found a perforated plastic ball. The rackets didn't work very well, so the dads created four wood paddles, similar to today's wood paddles. At first they placed the net at the badminton height of 60 inches and volleyed the ball over the net. As the weekend progressed, the players found that the ball bounced well on the asphalt surface and soon the net was lowered to 36 inches. The following weekend, Barney McCallum was introduced to the game at Pritchard's home. Soon, the three men created rules, relying heavily on badminton. They kept in mind the original purpose, which was to provide a game that the whole family could play together. The Pritchards had a cocker spaniel named Pickles, who became interested in this new game. Whenever a ball would come his way, he would take the ball and run off with it, because you see, it was Pickle's ball. And that is how the game got its name.”
For more information on Pickleball including rules and videos, visit www.usapa.org. For more information on Pickleball at Palatine Park District, visit www.palatineparks.org or contact Todd Ranum, Athletic Coordinator, at 847-496-6238 or tranum@palatineparks.org.
The mission of Palatine Park District is to provide a variety of safe, enjoyable and affordable parks and recreation facilities and activities that will enhance the quality of life by promoting good health and well-being for all residents and visitors of the Palatine Park District.