PHOENIX — Pickleball is one of the fastest-growing sports in the country, with many parks adding courts or converting tennis courts to meet the demand.
And now two Ahwatukee pickleball enthusiasts are pushing the City of Phoenix to do more to meet the demand.
For Carrie McNeish and Jill Ostendorp, playing pickleball has become a way of life.
“We started playing in 2019,” McNeish said. "The growth of the sport just went crazy, bonkers."
For the past few years, they have been pushing to get dedicated pickleball courts built at Desert Foothills Park.
The Phoenix Parks and Recreation Department converted two tennis courts at the park into a dual use for pickleball in 2023.
A department spokesperson told 12News the renovation included resurfacing the tennis courts, adding pickleball lines and improving the lighting.
However, Ostendorp and McNeish say that’s not enough.
“There’s no barrier in between the two courts,” Ostendorp said. “But they did a great job resurfacing the courts, getting new nets, redoing the fencing, redoing the lighting.”
With pickleball only continuing to grow in popularity and long wait times for pickleball players at the nearby 16-court complex at Pecos Park, they say pickleball players in the area are underserved.
“Because it’s so busy,” McNeish said. “It’s so popular.”
“We think it would be a perfect opportunity to add dedicated pickleball courts,” Ostendorp added.
“We have about 1,200 supporters that are actively on our list,” McNeish continued.
Their dream is for eight courts and a parking lot to be put in and yes, it could be costly. A single court can cost about $25,000 to build, according to the website for the PPA Pickleball Tour. Costs can vary based on the materials used, but that means building eight pickleball courts could cost around $200,000.
“We hear a lot of, we don’t have the funding yet… we’re trying to get the funding,” McNeish said.
But that's not stopping them.
They’re hoping to come up with a private-public partnership to help get some funding to build the courts.
The Phoenix Parks and Recreation Department is aware of their requests for more pickleball courts to be added to the park and they’re currently working with the Community and Economic Development Department to explore a potential public-private partnership to construct additional courts at Desert Foothills Park.
In meantime, people who live in Ahwatukee can play any of the 16 outdoor pickleball courts at Pecos Park, indoors at Pecos Community Center or on the courts at Desert Foothills Park.
Two pickleball facilities are also set to open soon in south Tempe. Electric Pickle, which is being called "the Topgolf of pickleball" is scheduled to open near Warner and Priest drives this winter. The Picklr, a 26,000-square-foot pickleball facility, is scheduled to open in the Costco plaza at Elliot Road and Priest Drive this fall.
“The more this area grows and everything… we think it’s a great fit,” said Ostendorp.
According to Phoenix District Six City Councilman Kevin Robinson’s office, there are a couple of interested parties being vetted in the search for a potential public-private partnership opportunity, so McNeish and Ostendorp's persistence could very well pay off in the future. But then again, only time will tell.
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