Putnam invests big in expanding pickleball facilities

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  • Interlachen resident Kurt Crabtree pitches ideas about new pickleball courts to the Putnam County Board of Commissioners on Tuesday.
    Interlachen resident Kurt Crabtree pitches ideas about new pickleball courts to the Putnam County Board of Commissioners on Tuesday.
  • More than 40 pickleball-enthusiasts attend the Putnam County Board of Commissioners workshop Tuesday afternoon to encourage the board to approve new courts in the county.
    More than 40 pickleball-enthusiasts attend the Putnam County Board of Commissioners workshop Tuesday afternoon to encourage the board to approve new courts in the county.
  • Positively Putnam FL
    Positively Putnam FL
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Pickleball enthusiasts filled the Putnam County Government Complex and cheered gleefully Tuesday when the Board of County Commissioners approved new courts for their sport.

More than 40 pickleball players attended the board workshop and commissioners said the demonstration was one of the largest at a county meeting. 

“I’ve got no problem moving it forward,” Commissioner Jeff Rawls said. “… We haven’t had this many people on one subject since the (Confederate) monument was looking to be taken down.”

Exact plans are not definite, but the board put a $100,000 limit from the Port Authority budget to build four pickleball courts at the John Theobold Sports Complex in Palatka. 

The sport is a combination of tennis, badminton and pingpong played on a slightly modified tennis court, according to the USA Pickleball website. 

Meeting attendees said the group has 100 portable nets they carry across the county to make temporary pickleball courts because the county does not have any pickleball-specific venues. 

Palatka resident Jimmie Symonds said the sport is growing and anyone from 8 to 80 can play. She said the group that attended Tuesday is enthusiastic and there are many more Putnam County residents who play pickleball but couldn’t make it to Tuesday’s workshop. 

“We have already put $57,000 – dollars or equivalent in value – in Putnam County in two years,” Symonds said. 

She said past pickleball tournaments have brought people from eight states to Putnam County and this year’s tournament will be no different. Symonds said despite the COVID-19 pandemic, 260 players are already registered for the March 5 and 6 tournament, which takes place March 5 and 6. 

Rawls suggested the pickleball group research ideas for how to cost-effectively create new courts and present ideas to the Parks and Recreation Committee at a later date. 

“You’re the citizens. This is your county. Do with it what you want; just tell us what you want,” Rawls said. “… This is where you get to be creative. I can’t encourage you enough to feed the beast as much information as you can give it.”

 

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