'The king of pickup games': Pooler catches the pickleball bug and opens eight new courts

Pickleball, according to Pooler resident and four-year player Felicia Burche, is kind of like a cross between table tennis, tennis and badminton.

"I feel like I'm standing on, like, a giant table tennis table, and I'm standing on the table playing the ball," Burche said. "It's like ping pong, it's so easy to learn, and you can make it as difficult or as simple and fun as you want."

The versatility of play for all ages, affordability, accessibility and ability to socialize easier than other sports is what has been driving people to pickleball since it exploded in popularity during and following quarantine procedures for the COVID-19 pandemic.

It's why municipalities, businesses and people around Chatham County have begun to invest in the sport ― such as the City of Pooler, which held the grand opening of new pickleball and tennis courts Wednesday morning.

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The project cost $3.8 million, according to Director of Parks and Recreation Hugh Elton, and features eight pickleball courts and six tennis courts. The courts are open from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. every day, which elicted a lot of cheers from the crowd gathered at the ribbon cutting, which consisted of Pooler, Richmond Hill and Effingham County residents.

"This is probably the best money they can spend on any kind of recreational activity at the moment," said Joshua Hagan, four-year pickleball player. "By far. Everyone's playing it. I play in Richmond Hill, and we have eight courts. If you go on a weekday night, you have 30 to 40 to 50 people standing and waiting for a chance to play."

'The king of pickup games'

Hagan considers pickleball the new "king" of pickup games ― like basketball, you don't really have to do much, call anyone to set up. You can just show up to the court and play with whomever is there. Hagan considers himself a competitive person, and when he first tried his hand at it, he didn't see pickleball as being a super-competitive sport. Eventually, though, he became addicted and has traveled to tournaments in Florida, Alabama, South Carolina and plans on entering more competitions.

Most people have similar stories: they played pickleball once and quickly became addicted due to how easy it was to play.

"Realistically, you don't have to be fast or quick or tall or any of those things to play it," Hagan said. "So, it doesn't surprise me that it blew up the way it did."

Pickleball was invented in the 1960s in Washington state but has been sweeping the country for the last four years. Chris Kader, director of courts sports at The Landings Club said they have between 500 and 800 people actively playing pickleball at The Landings. The club started out with one court back in 2011, before adding 11 more between then and 2018. Just last year, they added four more for a total of 15 courts and have plans to add more in the near future.

"The pandemic really launched pickleball through the roof," Kader said. "Prior to that, pickleball was kind of looked as a little bit of an older person's game. It does really well with blending people of different abilities or dealing with odd numbers more so than any other game."

The sport is a racquet sport much like tennis, but on much smaller courts. The proximity the two or four players have to each court is what makes it so much easier to socialize than with other sports, according to Koder. While people were trying to quarantine, proximity to other people while still being outside was coveted. The games are also shorter compared to tennis or golf, so if there are extra people hanging around, they can be rotated into the next game.

For Burche, the ability to gather and meet people became part of her motivation for playing it more.

"My original motivation for playing was because I needed an outlet for some activity, because I'd always been one to get out and do things," Burche said. "I don't like doing regular exercises, it's incredibly boring. But then, once I started playing, I did start going into it thinking, I bet I'm really going to meet some people. I never realized how many friends I would make from the game, and from all over the country."

Pooler isn't the only municipality with pickleball courts. There are some in Savannah at Lake Mayer, and indoor courts on Tybee Island at the YMCA. There have also been discussions of outdoor pickleball courts on Tybee at Memorial Park.

"If you look around, there's kind of a very few places to play pickleball publicly," Kader said. "It's in the private sector, like here at the Landings Club, at the Savannah Golf Club or Yacht Club or Country Club, so I think what Pooler did is fantastic. If you build it, they will come ― I promise you."

Destini Ambus is the general assignment reporter for Chatham County municipalities for the Savannah Morning News. You can reach her at dambus@gannett.com

This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: 'The king of pickup games': Pooler catches the pickleball bug and opens eight new courts