COURIER L 10 IFE, APRIL 16-22, 2021
PLAY BALL!
Senior pickleball players look to
use Marine Park tennis courts
BY JESSICA PARKS
A group of elder Brooklyn pickleball
players are looking to add markings
to Marine Park’s tennis courts,
saying the new lines would support the
game that’s been increasing in popularity
among older borough dwellers.
“I would like to get Marine Park
to mark their tennis courts,” said Michael
Chaiet, a senior from Marine
Park. “This way the seniors at the senior
center could play at a real court,
and it would be open to people like us
who get together, 25 to 30 people, to
come and play on the court.”
Pickleball playing has exploded
among Kings County’s senior population
in recent years, and incorporates
elements of badminton, ping pong, and
tennis. The game requires a group of
four players, and a court that’s about
a quarter of the size of a regulationsized
tennis court.
A league of 90 participants — who
comprise the Marine Park Pickleball
Associates — are asking the Parks Department
to mark three tennis courts
in the park for pickleball, which could
accommodate 48 pickleball players at
one time, according to a letter penned
by Chaiet on behalf of the association.
“Marine Park has 12 Tennis Courts
— 4 rows of 3,” Chaiet wrote. “If the
last row of Tennis courts were double
marked for both sports, that would be
12 pickleball courts, enough to accommodate
48 players.”
Pickleball players currently use two
courts at Dr. John’s Playground in Gerritsen
Beach that are in decrepit shape,
according to Chaiet, who argued that
courts at Marine Park would be more
accessible for the senior players.
“They are peeling with paint and
the pavement is pitted,” said Chaiet.
“It’s an old paddleball court. The concrete
is all pimpled out and there is a
big seam that runs down it. ”
Marking courts for pickleball does
not prevent them from being used for
tennis, and therefore welcomes more users
to the park instead of drawing away
others, the association rep argued.
“The tennis courts are still playable
and pickleball is available, just bring
your own pickleball nets,” Chaiet
wrote.”This would be a great addition
to Marine Park offering a wider selection
of paddle sports. It doesn’t take
away anything from tennis.”
The association has been pushing
the Parks Department for dedicated
courts to accommodate the seniors
for two years, but greenspace honchos
have been slow to accommodate
the borough’s seniors — even though
neighboring Manhattan is home to 24
pickleball courts.
STAYING FIT: Pickleball has become increasingly
popular among older adults. Photo by
Derrick Watterson
“This thing got started after I retired
about two and a half years ago,”
Chaiet said. “The only place I know
the city put pickleball courts in is over
by the UN. In Brooklyn, it’s like a big
zero, a big zero effort.”
Chaiet pointed to the Fort Hamilton
Senior Center in Bay Ridge, where employees
have long facilitated a pickleball
program indoors, and during the pandemic
quickly transitioned their outdoor
junior tennis courts for pickleball.
“Carmine Carro Community Center
should have the same opportunity
for its members as the Fort Hamilton
Senior Center,” the letter said.
To inspire others to get involved in
the fast-growing sport, the pickleball
association plans to fi lm three halfhour
videos to instruct others how to
play and will be live-streaming a pickleball
clinic on April 16.
When Brooklyn Paper requested
comment, the city Parks Department
announced new pickleball courts
would be erected with the reconstruction
of the Marine Park P.S. 278 Playground
for which the design phase is
expected to be completed in the fall —
claiming the park’s tennis courts are
too heavily used to allow for their conversion
to pickleball.
“We value input from our community
members and are excited to share
that as part of the fully funded Marine
Park P.S. 278 Playground reconstruction,
pickleball courts are included in
the design,” said Parks Department
spokesperson Anessa Hodgson. “We
have also painted pickleball courts at
Dr. John’s Playground within Marine
Park to bring this amenity to other
parts of the park.”