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HomeMy WebLinkAbout3/4/2020 Item 4, Smith Wilbanks, Megan From:Tisha Smith < To:Advisory Bodies Subject:PRC Communication - time sensitive Dear SLO Parks and Rec. Commissioners, I understand you have been given information by City Staff regarding Pickleball and Tennis usage of courts at French Park that indicates the facilities will be more beneficial to the public if the court schedule is changed. They are recommending changing the schedule to allow more time for Tennis play and less time for Pickleball play. I disagree that this will benefit the public. In fact it will exasperate the current dilemma of keeping up with the need for Pickleball courts. Since the addition of the 3 upper Pickleball courts at French, more people are now coming to play at French. In fact, Fridays have become an informal day for the BEST players in the county to congregate and play at French Park. It has been nicknamed by some, “5.0 Fridays”, and it’s great to watch these ultra skilled players in action. The SLO Promotional Coordinating Committee would be delighted to see these players coming every week from other cities, often spending money while they’re in SLO on gas, food, and shopping! Why would SLO Parks & Rec want to discourage this by decreasing Pickleball court usage time? There are times now when Pickleball players wait for the clock to strike noon, near the lower courts to play pickleball, when NO tennis players are using the courts. Picture 8 or more Pickleball players bemoaning the wait to enter the courts, even though NO tennis players have been using the courts. This happened regularly when our women’s league team practiced last year. Additionally, please note the complexity of the recommended new schedule. Too many words and slots indicate that someone is trying to please everyone. This isn’t the mission of the SLO Parks & Rec Dept. Instead the mission is to “Inspire Happiness by creating Community through People, Parks, Programs, and Open Space.” Pickleball is a community building sport due to the nature of rotating and changing partners often. Given the mission of the department, I would argue that if changes should be made to the current schedule at French Park, there should be more time allotted for Pickleball on the tennis courts. 1 I’m also dismayed to see the idea put forth of installing a display case on-site “providing transparency for open court reservation.” Display cases are not th aesthetically pleasing, and they truly are 20 century means of communication. If a problem exists with the messaging on a club website, contradicting the determined use times of facilities, a simple phone call or email to the club should suffice in mitigating the discrepancy and a correction to the website information can be made. A lot of time and money can be saved via this method communication. Lastly, I’m dumbfounded that less Pickleball time is being recommended by the Parks & Rec staff considering that Pickleball is growing and SLO City needs to keep up with this growth. The US Pickleball Association recorded 1,016 new Pickleball places to play in the year 2018, approximately 85 new places per month. https://www.places2play.org "Pickleball has had a 650% increase in numbers over the last 6 years" April 21, 2019 NBC News https://www.nbcnews.com/better/lifestyle/pickleball-fastest-growing-sport-you-ve- never-heard-ncna992106 Locally, the population of Pickleball players using the French Park tennis court appears significantly higher than the population of Tennis players using the court. And, this discrepancy has increased since the addition of 3 permanent courts at the park in 2019. Physical observation shows this to be true. Large numbers of Pickleball players come to French Park every week. If you’re unfamiliar with Pickleball, you may not realize that Four Pickleball courts fit onto One Tennis court. And, Pickleball games average much shorter periods of time than Tennis games. 16 Pickleball players can use One Tennis court simultaneously, and games are short so more players rotate in often. Only a maximun of Four tennis players can use the court simultaneously. I'm hopeful my schedule will allow me to attend the meeting regarding this issue this week. If you have any questions regarding my concerns, please don’t hesitate to give me a call. Thank you for your time, Tisha Smith (805) 440-9048 2