This weekend two emails arrived from Pickle Ball players at Maple Leaf Reservoir Park. Both are polite, and similar. They deal with a subject we figured would come up.
Jeff writes:
PLEASE, users of the wonderful Maple Leaf Park, if you see people using the pickle ball nets for something other than hitting small plastic balls across or into, PLEASE try to point out to them these nets are not going to endure that sort of thing.
He means the nets won’t take it, and notes he saw a child yanking at one. “As of the last few weeks, one of the nets has been damaged, torn a bit in a lower side section. It is impossible to imagine this happened due to a pickle ball.”
And Nancy writes:
It seems to me that pickle ball is a new enough sport in this area that perhaps some signage would be helpful. If people see the nets as soccer nets and jungle gyms, they are going to be damaged, to the detriment of the people who want to play pickle ball. I think perhaps the community needs just a little bit of education.
She adds:
I would also like to offer the suggestion that the practice wall be removed in favor of putting up a third net and court. There is plenty of room, and people don’t use the practice board, in part because it is not a smooth surface, but has carved decorations that make the ball bounce at odd angles. I think there’s plenty of interest for a third court and I would love to support that initiative in anyway that I can.
You can rent pickle ball equipment at Ace Hardware. They sell it, too.