Wednesday, July 5, 2023

The Rise of Pickleball in Altadena

By KEITH CALAYAG

Pickleball is one of the fastest growing sports in the United States and now it’s starting to take a foothold in Altadena.

More and more people are playing pickleball in the city, according to Brandon Mackie, founder of Pickleheads, a platform that enables players to find pickleball courts, organize sessions and join leagues.

Often described as a combination of tennis, ping-pong and badminton, Pickleball is an indoor or outdoor racket sport where two players, or four players, hit a perforated hollow polymer ball over a 36-inch-high net using solid-faced paddles.

For the third year in a row, it is considered the fastest growing sport in the country, according to the Sports & Fitness Industry Association. Nearly 9 million people played the sport in 2022.

There has also been an increase in interest in the sport in Pasadena.

“What we’re seeing locally is all the same when we look at our traffic to our court pages in Pasadena, that’s over 10 times where it was this time last year… Pasadena is one of our hotspots,” said Mackie.

“ We’ve got a country club nearby that’s using it, and that’s helped spread Pickleheads to players in the Pasadena and also nearby Altadena area. And what we’re just seeing is a lot more people playing pickleball than there were last year.”

Altadena has two main sites where residents can enjoy pickleball, and these are Charles S. Farnsworth Park and the Altadena Town & Country Club.

Charles S. Farnsworth Park has 4 outdoor concrete courts with permanent lines and nets, and are free to use while the Altadena Town & Country Club has 4 outdoor hard courts, which require a membership for access. The courts have permanent lines and portable nets.

Mackie believes Charles Farnsworth Park is popular for pickleball players because they have courts that are dedicated for pickleball, meaning the courts have permanent lines and permanent nets.

In other facilities, pickleball players have to share the court space with other players playing tennis or other racket sports.

“To have access to dedicated courts, particularly in the Los Angeles area is, I would say, a luxury and a great thing that’s helped grow the sport, particularly in the Pasadena Altadena area.”

Altadena Town & Country Club is also another facility considered a hotspot “where folks there play almost every day.”

“They have portable nets on site and they use our Picklehead scheduler to organize play, which is pretty cool that we were able to help them organize their play over there.”

Before using Picklehead, Altadena Town & Country Club used other tools to organize plays but it was not working out, as per Mackie.

Since they began using Picklehead, their play has become more organized, “more fun and more competitive.”

Mackie, who created Pickelheads to help people find places to play the sport, hopes he will see more local pickleball facilities in the future to give players more opportunity to enjoy the sport.

“I think we’ll be able to host more tournaments, socials, round robins, things like that. And overall, I just think it’s going to continue to grow month after month, year after year.”

He encouraged those interested in getting started with pickleball to give the sport a try.

He said it is best for beginners to find a local open play, which he said is the best format for newbies, because participants can show up alone and can mix and match with partners.

Mackie hopes Pickelheads will continue to help grow the sport by helping educate people that pickleball is in the area, there are places to play and there’s a real community there for them to join.

“We really believe pickleball is a good thing for the communities, gets people outside exercising, meeting others in the area. And if we can play a small part in that, then we’re really happy.”

To find pickleball courts near you, visit https://www.pickleheads.com/