Price Pickleball Hosts Meet and Greet Fundraiser for New Courts

Pickleball is a sport that has been around since 1965 and is credited as the fastest growing sport in America, becoming more popular around five years prior.

Scott McKee stated that he and a group have been playing pickleball in Price for about three years and they currently use the tennis courts with painted pickleball court lines. In Price, the sport is continuing to grow in popularity and the group has to work around the high school tennis team for court usage.

The group, Price Pickleball, began meeting with representatives of the city over a year ago to work on finding a location for permanent courts. The old basketball courts that are located next to the tennis courts were not being used. While they are in disrepair, after several meetings with city and park supervisors, it was decided to grant them to old court.

Working on this project are Price City, Price City Parks and Price Pickleball. The group is working to raise funds and, in conjunction, hosted a raffle and tournament on Saturday afternoon. The event also served as a meet and greet to show the community what pickleball is all about. Ruben’s Barbecue was in attendance to feed hungry athletes and there were also pickleball demonstrations.

The tournament began at 2 p.m., though before and after there was an opportunity for those interested to view the location and layout of the highly-anticipated pickleball complex in Price.

“We plan to have large tournaments in the future, which will bring revenue to Carbon County,” McKee stated.

McKee credited pickleball as a very social game, with the group having barbecues and monthly birthday parties for members. Pickleball is also credited as an inexpensive sport, with court usage free at most places and the only requirements being the paddle and a few balls.

“Pickleball has an easy learning curve and can be played by almost anyone. Pickleball is a great way for the whole family to have fun, while getting exercise,” shared McKee. “We always have someone that is willing to teach new people the game.”

The group also has a Facebook page where events and updates are posted. Though the page has only been active for a few weeks, there are already about 70 members. McKee remarked that once pickleball takes off, it tends to grow very rapidly. Those interested in learning more about Price Pickleball should click here.