It’s a mix of tennis, table tennis and badminton and is played with a paddle not a racquet - and Pickleball is now the fastest growing sport in the country.
The four new community pickleball courts in Westlake Village are the first time there’s been public pickleball or tennis courts in the city.
"Pickleball is the fastest growing sport in the United States! I'm still surprised every time I hear that, but that is what they say and we know it when we keep hearing about it," said Rob de Geus, City Manager of Westlake Village.
"This is an investment we want to make, not only for Westlake Village, but for the for the region," said De Geus.
He says the sport is enjoyable for all ages.
"The pickleball courts are going to be for the community, for everybody, all ages. This park was built mostly for youth and it didn't have a lot of sports for adults, so we've added this new feature," he said.
The construction project started 11 months ago, and turned part of this large parking lot into the four new courts, explained Ned Davis, the Mayor of Westlake Village.
"The pickleball courts are the crown jewel of the culmination of many, many things, particularly the park itself. We were able to carve out this much space for four pickleball courts. That was originally the parking lot. So we've turned parking spaces into usable pickleball spaces," said Davis.
Gigi Corkott plays Pickleball – she’s a personal trainer and says that she appreciates the physical and mental agility that the game serves up.
"For me, it's the fact that it's a great physical activity. It works agility, which as a personal trainer, I am always concerned with people being more agile, so it's great on that aspect - and it's great for cardio as well," said Corkott.
"Also, it's great for just the strategy and the thinking aspect of it. It's such a budget friendly activity, and so the fact that there's this now open pickleball court and people can just gather. There's no excuse for people to not have a place to get exercise and socialize. And so I think those are the two biggest things. Community is huge for me and for our community here. So it just really wraps together all the things," she said.
And if you don’t know how to play…there’s even a Pickleball Ambassador at the courts to help show you the ropes!
