Published May 4, 2021 at 3:01 PM CDT Listen • 17:01
/ Pickleball enthusiasts enjoy a sunny day of play in Tilles Park in St. Louis last week.
If you’re looking for a racket sport this spring, you might find some of the old standbys are a bit passe. Tennis? Too hard. Racquetball? No one wants an indoor sport during a pandemic. Well, how about pickleball? The main problem with this laidback version of tennis, pingpong and badminton may be that it’s just too popular. Courts across the region seem perpetually filled with players.
The very fact that the courts exist is largely the work of one man, as
If you’re looking for a racket sport this spring, you might find some of the old standbys are a bit passe. Tennis? Too hard. Racquetball? No one wants an indoor sport during a pandemic. Well, how about pickleball? The main problem with this laidback version of tennis, ping pong and badminton may be that it’s just too popular. Courts across the region seem perpetually filled with players.
The very fact that the courts exist is largely the work of one man, as
St. Louis Magazine revealed in a recent story detailing the sport’s explosive growth here. Mike Chapin fell in love with pickleball in 2014, writes Nicholas Phillips. Thanks to Chapin’s advocacy, in 2016 Tilles Park became host to the area’s first permanent multi-court pickleball facility. At Chapin’s urging, four parks across the city have followed, with more on the way (and even more coming to St. Louis County). Later this month, Forest Park is set to host the USA Pickleball Association’s regional tournament.