New pickleball courts dedicated to park board

Published 9:11 am Thursday, September 15, 2016

It was a balmy Monday evening when hundreds of pickleball fans flocked behind the township hall for a dedication ceremony and a chance to break-in the newly repaired courts.

Southwest Michigan Pickleball Club founder Doug Clark recognized the Township for supplying the $3,500 in supplies to fix the courts.

Over the summer, about 20 club members and volunteers powerwashed, filled two-inch cracks in the asphalt and painted the new courts a vibrant blue and green with a white border.

“This took a lot of work,” Clark said, while on the courts players smacked balls back and forth with a thwack.

It’s a sound that will be a lot more common thanks to the township’s help. Clark estimated that the repairs would have been about $8,000 out of pocket and while the club still put some of their own money into the courts, the Township’s helped bring the courts to fruition.

“We want to thank Harry (Thibault) and the park board for all the help that they have given us,” Clark said. “We are very grateful.”

To show the club’s gratitude, Clark presented Thibault, chairman of the park commission with a wooden pickleball paddle engraved with the club name to the Niles Charter Township.

Clark’s club consists of about 80 members who range in skill level and meet regularly to practice.

Thibault said he admired the paddle and the number of players who had come to celebrate and play pickleball.

“This is more use than it has probably had in a decade,” he said.

While Thibault said he hasn’t played pickleball since his Purdue days in the 1980s, with the courts in close proximity and a new paddle, it was time to get back into the game.

A number of players with varying skill levels and ages could be seen on the courts. Pickleball regular Jeff Martin played a friendly game with his friend Bob Yauch, who was visiting from Florida.

Martin started playing with the club two years ago and said he became addicted to the game after he played at a family reunion. The sport is now a regular part of his life and he plays at least five times a week, usually starting his first game around 7 a.m.

“I enjoy the people … so many different people,” he said. “Even though I have lived in the Niles and Berrien Springs area all my life, I never knew all these people.”

For Clark, the appeal in the sport was also the chance to interact and meet new people.

“There is the social aspect of it,” he said. “It is a great game that brings people together. You don’t have to be a natural athlete to get good and to excel at it.”