Can Pickle Ball (PB) Coexist with Tennis

The attached article was recently released about the status of efforts to peacefully coexist with tennis and other sports. Thought you might be interested, as one of the suggested actions is the restriping of our tennis courts.

Thank you, Lynda Merrill for representing the interests of tennis players.

Pickleball Versus Tennis Status

What follows below are Carl Pherson’s comments regarding pickleball which he presented, both verbally and in written form, to the meeting of the Morro Bay Recreation and Parks Commission on 19 March 2015.

Facts

PB has access to roller hockey rink with equipment provided two (now three?) days per week for the scheduled hours.
PB has access to roller hockey rink five days per week at all hours, as long as players provide their own equipment.
PB has access to inside courts with equipment provided at the Community Center as many days per week as Kathy Thomas PhD can arrange.
The major, but bogus, reason given for striping the Monte Young courts is to provide weekend playing opportunities. It is a bogus reason because Saturday and Sunday play at Monte Young is already highly utilized by tennis players who work standard 40 hour weeks. Surfside migrates to LOMS on Saturdays largely because of the competition for Monte Young courts and because there are more courts available at LOMS. Further, there are no storage facilities at Monte Young to store P&RC-supplied PB equipment.
Self-equipped weekend PB players accustomed to playing at Del Mar in north Morro Bay can easily migrate to nearby MBHS courts which are seldom used on Saturdays (other than for two annual fundraising tournaments) and never scheduled for Sundays. While that group should not permanently stripe any of these courts for PB, which would impair their use for tennis, their system of light ropes with weighted corners for line boundaries and net straps (not tampering with the tighteners) can be easily transported there. Also, Monte Young is located at a much further distance from their accustomed playing location.
Permanently adding confusing striping to the Monte Young courts would be a betrayal/insult/slap-in-the-face to Playday Tennis and Surfside players who have provided their own rackets and balls and loyally supported court maintenance for decades at $60 per month when PB players pay no user fees.
There are several local examples of failed attempts to invest in new fad sports only to find their initial popularity has faded. The roller hockey rink is one example. Another example is the Frisbee golf goals located at LOMS. Tennis has remained popular for over a century while PB is a newcomer that may diminish and eventually disappear.
Surfside is on record as supportive of all efforts to provide numerous dedicated PB courts to accommodate local and regional PB players for daily play as well as PB Festival Events to attract more tourists during so-called "Shoulder Seasons" when hotel/motel vacancies exist. The Tourism Business Improvement District should be enlisted to support this effort financially and politically. Other grants should also be pursued.

Ideas & Recommendations

The Morro Bay Recreation and Parks Commission (R&PC) should become even more innovative in working with the Pickleball players.
Obtain more sets of temporary nets and soft rope with corner weights for boundaries.
Obtain a trailer to store these sets securely.
Use MBHS for weekend pickleball. Twelve temporary courts could be accommodated at that location. Trailer the temporary sets of nets, lines and paddles to that location.
Develop a trial invitational PB Tournament in the shoulder season on three possible/simultaneous venues. (Note after the testimony, Dr. Thomas claimed that the national body will only sanction tournaments on one venue. MBHS would provide the requisite twelve courts. Alternatively, the PB group could use Del Mar PB or the parking area north of the power plant across from GAFCo.