Courting A New Game
By: Angie Stryker
What do you do if you are manning your store, right off the city square, and someone who is passing through town comes in exclaiming, "Where is pickleball here?" Well, even if you don't yet know what pickleball is but your name is Kim Moore Cain, you figure out a way to have pickleball in your town!
That was 5 years ago. Fast forward to 2024 and Ashland, Alabama, now has pickleball courts in their lush local park, right off the square.
Kim was intrigues by the passionate woman and started learning everything she could about pickleball and why it was so popular. Courts and leagues and open play were happening all over the southeast. It was gaining all sorts of momentum. People in Wedowee were asking about it as well. You've either heard or seen it on the Facebook groups, "Where can we find pickleball?" The sport has become quite the rage for all ages - from kids and families to older retired folks.
Pickleball started in the 1960's out west. It is rumored that a family made the game up. The kids picked up paddles and grabbed a wiffle ball and started playing a game that they created.
Where did the name come from? It actually has nothing to do with pickles, the food. It was named after the family dog, Pickles!
Kim was determined to turn some of the unused tennis courts in Ashland City Park into Pickleball courts. It was a long process since not many local people had heard about the sport yet. After many years of discussion and planning, the courts were recently painted with blue lines for Pickleball and temporary nets were purchased for maximum flexibility of the courts.
The pickleball courts are just one addition to the park plans. There is already a skate park, a playground, walking trails, an Open Spaces Sacred Places bench and garden, and now a monument to the first responders in memory of the Life Flight accident in Chelsea last year. But the plans don't stop there. As the Yellow Meated Watermelon Festival is held in the park each year, once the August festival has passed, the rest of the plans will be developed including an amphitheater, an arbor over an "eternal spring" for weddings and celebrations and another walking trail closer to the playground for moms who want to get their exercise in while keeping an eye on the kiddos. The plans are ambitious for a small town park. As Kim exclaims, "We have to have access to and spend time in nature for our ongoing healing."
With the Pickleball courts present, how do you bring the sport the Clay County? Enter Cheryle Johnson. Cheryle is a recent transplant to Lineville from Arizona. She and her husband Gary are renovating Gary's family home here. Cheryle's hobby is pickleball and she is an avid player. She has played in Oxford and Opelika and was thrilled when the park added their own courts. Always on the lookout for a partner, she recognized the need to teach the sport to those who were intrigued but didn't know where to start. She started a Facebook group and began advertising that she would be on the courts with gear every Sunday at 3 pm. Slowly people of all ages and levels of skill showed up to learn. Many people came never having seen a game. She now has people who have come and fallen in love with the sport, buying their own gear, coming out to play and learn and level up. Cheryle donates her time, not charging a dime.
The courts are available all the time. The lights can be turned on if you go to the Ashland Police Department and get the key for the lights. You can even show up and borrow paddles and balls from Kim at City Hall - all for free!
Join the local Pickleball movement by finding the Clay County Facebook group. Grab a friend and enjoy the outdoors. With the heat moving in, there will be a different time offering open play and lessons. Stay tuned on the Facebook group or just show up and get started.
Ashland City Park
327 1st Street N. Ashland, AL 36251
FB Group Clay County Pickleball
