AMERICA’S FASTEST-GROWING SPORT
Last summer, the commitment of Jones County to the sport of pickleball was front and center when the ribbon cutting for the six pickleball courts at the Morris Bank Recreation Complex was held.
The result since then has been a significant return on investment. Jones County Parks and Recreation Director Bert Rosenberger says that more than 400 individuals have been recorded as playing at least once on Jones County’s courts with more than 100 playing regularly in the sport that uses a racquet, plastic ball and slightly smaller court size compared to tennis.
“I knew that we had a small core group but had no idea that it would grow the way it has,” Rosenberger said.
One of those groups is the Jones County Pickleball Summer Sizzler Coed League, which began in June and runs through early August and takes place on Tuesday and Thursday nights with matches setting up players to play those at similar skill levels. That cross-section of abilities is one of the many draws of the sport, says Rosenberger.
“The cool thing is you have people like doctors, lawyers, principals, blue-collar and white-collar workers out there playing,” Rosenberger said. “You’ll see grandparents out there playing against grandchildren. It’s a sport that touches so many demographics.”
That interest has also birthed what’s a good problem for the Jones County pickleball community to have – courts to meet that demand. Since most pickleball matches consist of doubles. Around 24 can play on the courts at once. Rosenberger says that a second phase of courts has been initially discussed.
“We’ve had a few league nights with more people that we can accommodate, so with six courts, we can maybe get around 36 in at most, and we have hit that a few times,” Rosenberger said.
More information on pickleball in Jones County is available at https://jonescountypickleb. wixsite.com/
