Funding for pickleball courts uncertain

With no funding in place there is no way to predict when public pickleball courts could become a reality in Surprise, city officials say.

Norm Davis, a Surprise resident and leader with the USA Pickleball Association, said he has worked for three years to bring pickleball courts and said he is disappointed to see the city in a "holding pattern" with limited funding.

City Council decided last week to postpone building the courts until funding becomes available. The city is considering adding it to a project list as part of a bond issue facing voters in fall 2009.

The city skate park, also already designed, is facing a similar fate.

When the housing boom was raging, development fees covered these types of costs, but now there is a slowdown.

"The bond process will be key to bringing future amenities to the residents," Community & Recreation Services Director Mark Coronado said.

The pickleball association was planning to hold a national tournament on the 12 courts this fall but had to cancel.

"We wanted to be able to use the best courts and have Surprise in the best light that we could," Davis said.

Although the city has about 30 pickleball courts, they are scattered throughout private retirement communities, Davis said.

Many of these continue to be overcrowded, he said.

Surprise also has converted two tennis courts into eight pickleball courts, but these are only a temporary solution and smaller in size than a normal pickleball court, Davis said.

Coronado said the "retrofitted" courts are less than ideal and are confusing with overlapping striping for both tennis and pickleball.

The association's hope is to bring a national tournament to the city's racquet complex in fall 2009, Davis said. This, however, would require funding to become available before a bond issue.

Mike Letson (left), 65, and Dick Lewis, 86, play pickleball at the Arizona Traditions Pickleball Club in Surprise last year.