Residents driving along Mulberry Street in Loudon may have noticed that Tellico Village soon won’t be the only pickleball location in Loudon County.
The Loudon Parks and Recreation Department made a recent purchase of movable nets that can be used on tennis courts at Liberty Park to set up a temporary playing area on the court closest to Loudon High School.
“As we refurbished our courts we added two courts to our tennis courts,” Mark Harrell, Loudon Parks and Recreation director, said. “... They are incorporated into the tennis courts now and those nets are mobile. That court gets less use than the one on what we call the west side, so we decided to put it on that side for that reason.”
Adding courts in more locations across Loudon County provides a chance to really grow the sport, Tellico Village Pickleball Club President Jeff Dore said.
“It’s something that more and more people are going to play because of just the popularity of it,” Dore said. “You don’t have to move as much as you do in tennis and that type of thing.”
Players in Tellico Village were the driving force behind the decision to explore the addition of pickleball, Harrell said.
“A couple of people who play out there on a regular basis mentioned that they’d like to see more courts because there’s always a waiting list to get into there to play,” Harrell said.
Players who live in the region but are not residents of Tellico Village have been looking for places to play as well, Dore said, pointing specifically to developments like Rarity Bay.
“In order to play in the Village you have to be a resident here and have to be a member of the Wellness Center,” Dore said, adding that Knoxville is likely the closest location for those who don’t reside in Tellico Village.
Whether the sport catches on in other parts of Loudon County is yet to be seen, but Dore has a positive outlook after introducing the sport to youth in local middle schools during physical education classes.
“It’s something families can do together,” Dore said. “It’s all skill-based where you start out. It’s a little easier to get adapted to than tennis. Of course, the court’s not as big and you don’t have to do as much running.”
The sport is also safe, which has been an increasingly important fact for many families, Harrell said.
“The big three — baseball, basketball and football — we’re seeing a trend go away from that now with fear of concussions and injury and things like that,” he said. “So we’re seeing more people looking for an alternative way to keep kids active and we feel this is an absolutely fantastic way to keep kids active. It’s a good workout, but again it’s economically something just about anybody can afford to do.”
While Dore said a good racket for the sport runs $80-100, new players can get their feet wet for much less.
“We found pickleball you can pretty well get started for $25, two rackets and a sleeve of balls,” Harrell said. “… When I was growing up tennis was a — it was just tough economically for people to afford tennis. Now you’ve even got people with $500-600 rackets, things like that. It’s just a way for people to be able to use those courts more. Tennis is a great sport, but now we’ve got multiple uses for the courts themselves.”
Loudon Parks and Recreation will have an employee available to help introduce players to the sport at 10 a.m. Wednesdays with the hope to start a pickleball league in the fall if there is demand. For more information, contact the department at 865-458-0833.
