Lois Tuey, a former college tennis player, brought pickleball to Manhattan Beach when she began teaching the sport for the Older Adults Parks and Recreation program in 2014. Manhattan Beach Mayor Steve Napolitano invited Lois, now 82 and still playing, to cut the ribbon for six new Manhattan Beach Middle School (MBMS) pickleball courts on November 4, 2022. Our City’s pickleball story – full of advocacy, growth, community building, collaboration, and fun – mirrors the nation’s story of pickleball proliferation and passion.
A recent New Yorker article stated that more than a million Americans began playing pickleball during the pandemic, bringing the total to around five million, and attributed the sport’s popularity to being “easy to learn, hard to master… social, and inexpensive.” Manhattan Beach School Board Member Cathey Graves recently told a local paper, “To reserve a court [prior to the ribbon-cutting], players had to sign on to the city’s website at 5:59 a.m. to be ready when reservations open at 6 a.m.”
With only 3-7 pickleball courts available depending on the time of day in 2021, local players Cathleen Ching and Mary Chieffe proposed the idea for new courts at MBMS to Parks and Recreation Director Mark Leyman and Recreation Supervisor Michael Hudak. Enthusiastic support for the idea from City Councilmembers and the Manhattan Beach Unified School District in addition to staff enabled the project to move forward (relatively) quickly. The new courts, converted from six under-utilized paddle tennis courts, were built with $26,000 of general funds for resurfacing and painting as well as in-house Public Works contributions of pole, fencing, and net installation. Cathleen and Mary presented MBMS with a donation of 40 pickleball paddles courtesy of Selkirk Paddles and 100 pickleballs on behalf of local players at the dedication ceremony.
The new courts are used by students as part of their physical education classes during the day and by the public afterschool and on weekends. Drop-in play for all skill levels immediately began attracting more than 60 participants on Saturday and Sunday mornings beginning in November. The City’s 2nd Annual Pickleball Tournament was a huge success, and courts will be open to the public twelve hours per day during the summer when school is not in session. Cathleen predicts, “Some day, we may send Manhattan Beach pickleball players to the Olympics, as we have volleyball players and swimmers.” |