The Columbus Parks and Recreation Department is posting new signage at the Donner Park pickleball courts following a recent dispute.
The Republic received a letter to the editor from Columbus resident Kim Harris in late May describing an incident where people who wanted to play were “run off” the courts by a member of the Columbus Pickleball Club.
“I know they’re raising money to get more pickleball courts built, but it doesn’t give them the right to take all six courts,” she said in a phone interview. “It’s a public park. One or two of them should be open.”
Harris used to be a club member several years ago. She and her husband stopped playing for a time due to health issues and work but have recently gotten back into the sport.
On the day the incident occurred, the Harrises were going to meet their daughter at the Donner courts. The daughter, who got there before them and was playing with a friend, was told by a club member that she had to leave.
When Harris and her husband arrived, there were three courts being used by club members, one being used a group of nonmembers, one being used by their daughter and her friend, and one that was open. At first, the couple was going to use the open court, but another group of nonmembers came and wanted to play, so they offered it to them, but a club member told the group to leave.
“A lady from the pickleball club came and up and said that they needed all the courts to play, and they were going to be subbing in and out from their courts, and they had other people that wanted to play, so they needed that court,” she said. “So it made that group mad. They left. She suggested they go over to the tennis courts to play.”
Harris and her husband played on their daughter’s court for a time but eventually moved to another court.
“One of the group members that got ran off was walking by, and I said, ‘Hey, weren’t you one that wanted to play pickleball?’” she said. “And he said yes, and I said, ‘It’s (the court) open, and it’s been open since you left.’ So he called the rest of his group, and they came over to start playing at the pickleball courts.”
The same woman began to tell them to leave again, so Harris said that she was tired of playing and that they could use her court.
Harris said that the club members did not say anything to her and her husband. She has not encountered or heard about a situation like this before.
“I have individually talked with the person that was involved, and there was another side to the story,” said Columbus Pickleball President Nancy Conner. “She didn’t feel as though she was out of line with what was going on, but it sounds like, in the way it was handled — we certainly want everyone to be welcoming to everyone.”
Brady Buckley, associate director of sports for the Columbus Parks and Recreation Department, said that no parks staff were present at the time of the incident.
“From my understanding … a non-pickleball-club member wanted to play on the court,” he said. “And then a pickleball member had told the member that this court was for usage for pickleball club members only, which is not true. And as you’ve seen on our website when you searched it, we do not have any dedicated hours to members.”
Both he and Conner said they believe this to be an isolated incident.
“We go out of our way, in all honesty, to welcome people,” said Conner. “And, you know, you always have a few people who may have a little more acerbic personality and that, but our club members are just very welcoming.”
Club leaders met with the parks department in late May to discuss signage and scheduling, as they noticed that there were not enough courts during peak times and a lot of people waiting to play, she said.
They met again after the complaint, and the parks department is working on implementing some changes in light of what occurred, with Buckley hoping that these will be in place by the end of the month.
“We are going to have additional signs made,” said Buckley. “And these signs will basically have things such as, ‘Courts are free and open to the public,’ ‘Courts are first come, first served basis’. We will also have something on there for the recommended amount of games or timeframe that you should play on a court during peak times, just to make sure people are being rotated in and out to play.”
He said that while parks staff won’t always be on hand, he expects that pickleball members will be able to help uphold these guidelines.
Juliana Bernabe, treasurer for the pickleball club, said that the new signage will also feature pickleball etiquette, a QR code for more information about the sport, contact information for the parks department and the club, and information about the paddle system for rotating play during peak times.
“On each court will be paddle holders,” she said. “It will hold three groups of four paddles each, so 12 paddles total. And then players can, if they want to stay with their group of four, they’ll put their four paddles together in the paddle holder. The group that’s already on the court will then rotate out after playing two games to 11, win by two, or 30 minutes max play time, whichever is less. They rotate out, another group of four go in, and then they can play their game on the court.”
Conner added that when teams rotate out, they don’t have to stop playing; instead, they put their paddle back in the holder and wait their turn to play again.
Bernabe said she believes the new signage will make it easier to share the courts.
According to Buckley, there may have been some misunderstanding around a schedule that was previously posted at the courts, which has since been taken down. The sign showed recommended times for different skill levels and provided the following format for play:
- 2 on 2 off, winners stay for max of 2 games
- 4 on 4 off in high volume times, generally guideline is when 8 or more are waiting
- Open times, no restriction what type of play and 2-hour max if people are waiting
Buckley said there may have been confusion due to the chart being labeled “CPC Court Schedules” — however, while club members help facilitate use, the listed times were for everyone.
“The skill level schedule that we had was basically a recommendation so everybody could feel comfortable with who they’re playing with,” he said.
Harris said that this was confusing, as it appeared to designate certain hours for the club and certain hours for the public.
In addition to the club’s conversations with the parks department, Conner wrote a message to members on the club’s social media and in its recent newsletter about the recent incident, stating that it is never acceptable for members to be “rude or unwelcoming.”
“Donner is a public park as are the pickleball courts, and there must be courts that are open to non-CPC members if these individuals do not want to rotate into play,” she said.
This information has also been communicated to the club member involved in the incident, she said.
Conner also addressed the matter in a letter to the editor, which ran in The Republic on June 9. She said she has also reached out to Harris personally.
Harris, who has several friends in the club, said she received an apology from one saying that the incident “never should have happened.” She also received an email from Buckley about the matter.
When asked for her thoughts on the planned changes, Harris replied, “Nonmembers might not understand how the pickleball club (does) things, so something to explain that would be great, yes.”
She added that she feels that more free, outdoor pickleball courts are needed to meet demand.
Conner said that one of the reasons the Donner courts have been crowded is because the tennis courts at Richards Elementary — which previously served as overflow courts for pickleball — have been closed due to poor court conditions.
“Columbus is fortunate to have six pickleball courts at Donner Park,” she wrote in her letter to the editor. “Unfortunately, the game has become so popular for all ages that six courts does not meet the demands of play.”
Buckley said that there are “severe cracks” in the courts at Richards. The parks department is working on getting the renovations completed and “having the funds readily available to complete them,” he said.
“We have some drawings in place of what it would look like if we wanted to change Richards tennis courts just to completely pickleball courts,” he said. “Of course, those things always come down to funding, but it’s something that always continues to be on our radar, just like every other parks department in the country.”
According to a release from the Sports and Fitness Industry Association, the organization’s 2023 Topline Participation Report showed that pickleball participation in the United States nearly doubled in 2022, “increasing by 85.7% year-over-year and by an astonishing 158.6% over three years.” The association said pickleball is the “fastest growing sport in America.”
According to a recent newsletter, the Columbus Pickleball Club had 214 members, as of May 31.
Jim Kreutzjans, executive director of CERA Sports Park, said that CERAland is repurposing its six-court tennis area to create an 18-court pickleball facility. They’re hoping to have the project complete in early September 2023.
“We are currently, in cooperation with the Columbus Pickleball Club, having clinics and open play in our newly air conditioned recreation center,” he added.
Additionally, Buckley said that the basketball courts at the NexusPark fieldhouse, which is still under construction, will be lined for six pickleball courts.
There are also pickleball facilities at Foundation For Youth, Tipton Lakes Athletic Club and Harrison Country Club.
“Pickleball is the fastest growing sport in America, so it’s almost like you can’t have enough courts,” said Buckley.
Where to learn more
An updated set of court rules for Donner Park is posted at cbusinparks.com/pickleball-info.
Pickleball popularity
Pickleball is considered the fastest-growing sports in the US. Here is a look at the sport by the numbers:
8.9 million: Number of pickleball players in the United States (2022)
60: Percentage of pickleball players who are men (2021)
38: Average age of a pickleball player (2021)
10,320: Total number of pickleball courts in the US (2021)
Source: Sports & Fitness Industry Association
