HomeMy WebLinkAbout03/12/2019 O'Kelly - (Pickleball Input)1
From:Brian O'Kelly <
Sent:Tuesday, March 12, 2019 9:05 AM
To:Scott, Shawna; Stanwyck, Shelly; Advisory Bodies
Subject:Pickleball Input for FIELDS, FACILITIES & YOUTH PUBLIC WORKSHOP
Attachments:pickleball_foursome.jpg
Hello
I was planning on speaking at this event, but was called away on a family emergency at the last minute.
Most of the input from the Pickleball Club is in the 20 Year Plan we submitted, but at this meeting, I wanted to make one
point as to how pickleball is viewed and planned for.
Pickleball shouldn't be thought of as a "Senior Only Sport"
With French Multi Use Courts now available on the weekends, the under 40 group is our fastest growing
segment.
French Multi Use Court have an over capacity crowd every Saturday and Sunday with all age groups playing.
Pickleball was developed as a family sport with the rules designed to level the playing field among all age
groups.
This is one of the best sports for grandparents and grandchildren to play together. (see attached photo of who I
look forward to playing with)
PIckleball is fun, easy to learn, but still provides good competition for more athletic and advanced players young
and old.
The biggest obstacle now to learning to play or for younger people to get involved is getting on the courts. At our
current level of player interest, we could easily fill 8 courts almost every day, that's about 40 players.
As has always been the case in the past, when we added courts, the number of players quickly grew to fill up the space. I
see this trend continuing until we get to about 16 courts at our current population statistics.
Our club has become a 501c3 non profit and we fully expect to help with fundraising for court development in the
future.
Thank you for considering this,
Brian O'Kelly, President SLO Pickleball Club, Inc.