Lake Norman tennis courts damaged after someone adds unauthorized pickleball lines

The public tennis courts at East Lincoln High School near Lake Norman are closed indefinitely after someone damaged the court by adding pickleball lines, the school’s athletic director said.

“During a recent use of our tennis courts, pickleball lines were taped to the court’s surface, pulling up the competition tennis lines when removed,” athletic director Chris Matile said in a Facebook post late Saturday afternoon.

“As a result, the tennis facilities will be closed to the public until further notice,” Matile said.

The school is on N.C. 73 in Denver near Lake Norman.

Matile asked anyone who knows who added the pickleball lines to email him at cmatile@lcsnc.org. No one who added the lines has come forward, Matile told The Charlotte Observer on Wednesday.

“These were two brand new courts that cost close to $300,000 and were just completed in June, through a lot of hard work by our tennis coach, Rollin Mackel, and many in our community,” Matile said.

It’s not clear how much it would cost to paint on new tennis court lines. The contractor who installed the new courts is on vacation, and school officials hope to connect with the company next week, Matile said.

The contractor installed the courts with money from a grant the school obtained from Mooresville-based Lowe’s Cos. Inc., funding from Lincoln County Schools and “our own funding through athletics and our athletics booster account,” Matile said .

Tension between pickleball, tennis players

It’s still unknown whether the damage was intentional, although Matile said he doesn’t think it was.

“We just unfortunately have gotten to a point in society where we feel like we are entitled to do what we want to do, without thoughts on how our decisions can affect the next person — in this case, our tennis team and our athletic department,” he said.

He said most of the school’s athletic facilities remain open to the community, “as long as they self-police and take care of them. “Unfortunately, we have gotten to a point that we must keep our stadium locked and now, our tennis courts.”

Officials are adding signs to the courts making clear it’s tennis only, he said.

“We will get it fixed and then hopefully reopen to the public,” Matile said. “We have many in our community that enjoy playing tennis for fitness, enjoyment of the game and opportunities for families and friends to come together for some outdoor fun.”

Charlotte pickleball-basketball dispute

Tensions, however, have risen between some pickleball and tennis players around the country, Sports Destination Management reported in May, blaming the divide on a shortage of courts.

And east Charlotte residents objected last year when Mecklenburg County Park and Recreation converted a basketball court at Sheffield Park into a pickleball court, Charlotte Observer news partner WSOC reported.

The county got the message : In March, a new full-size basketball court opened, and a half-court basketball court was resurfaced, according to the Park and Recreation website.

“Turf wars” have surfaced as cities more often convert tennis courts to pickleball courts or turn tennis courts into shared courts with pickle ball, The Tribune newspaper of San Luis Obispo, California, reported in 2022.

In April, two pickleball nets were found disassembled after an argument between pickle ball and tennis players on shared courts in Needham, Massachusetts, WCVB reported.

In May, someone slashed pickleball nets in a New York City park and discarded them with trash, CBS New York reported.

In late 2021, pickle ball players in Santa Rosa, California, found motor oil poured onto city courts striped for both pickleball and tennis, while tennis courts were untouched, The (Santa Rosa) Press Democrat reported.

Pickleball grew to 13.6 million players in 2023 to remain the fastest growing sport in the U.S., according to a report this year by the Sports & Fitness Industry Association.

Around 23.8 million Americans play tennis, according to the U.S. Tennis Association.