Pickleball is the fastest growing sport in America. It may also be the most hated. Tennis and basketball players are complaining about losing court space because of an “invasion” of pickleballers. Residents are losing sleep because of the incessant noise. Fights over pickleball have led to a slew of petitions, calls to the police, and even lawsuits.

So why do pickleball players love this sport so much? Just how annoying is it to everyone else? And what will it take for everyone to just get along?

Producer Felix Poon visits one of the most popular courts in Boston to see how the drama is unfolding there.

Featuring Kemardo Henry, Martha Merson, Soren Whited, and Zariyah Cherise.

The banner that went up in September, 2024 at the South Street Courts in Jamaica Plain. Photo: Felix Poon.

ADDITIONAL MATERIALS

Want to play pickleball, but don’t want to annoy the neighbors? Check out this guide to quiet pickleball paddles.

Read the petition that first raised concerns over the popularity of pickleball at the South Street Courts in Jamaica Plain.

Learn more about the history of pickleball, which was invented near Seattle in Bainbridge Island, WA.

For more on the various conflicts arising from pickleball’s growing popularity, read One Man’s Lonely War on Central Park Pickleball (NYTimes), and Shattered Nerves, Sleepless Nights: Pickleball Noise Is Driving Everyone Nuts (NYTimes)

SUPPORT

To share your questions and feedback with Outside/In, call the show’s hotline and leave us a voicemail. The number is 1-844-GO-OTTER. No question is too serious or too silly.

Outside/In is made possible with listener support. Click here to become a sustaining member of Outside/In.

Follow Outside/In on Instagram or join our private discussion group on Facebook.

CREDITS

Host: Nate Hegyi

Reported, produced, and mixed by Felix Poon.

Edited by Taylor Quimby.

Our staff includes Justine Paradis, Marina Henke, and Kate Dario.

Executive producer: Taylor Quimby

Rebecca Lavoie is NHPR’s Director of On-Demand Audio

Music by Blue Dot Sessions, West & Zander, Hampus Naeselius, Bonnie Grace, and Rocket Jr.

Our theme music is by Breakmaster Cylinder.

Outside/In is a production of New Hampshire Public Radio

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Audio Transcript

Note: Episodes of Outside/In are made as pieces of audio, and some context and nuance may be lost on the page. Transcripts are generated using a combination of speech recognition software and human transcribers, and may contain errors.

Nate Hegyi: What’s up Felix?

Felix Poon: Nate Hegyi. Have you ever played pickleball?

Nate Hegyi: No. I have not.

Felix Poon: So I’ve mentioned on the podcast that I’m a fan.

Nate Hegyi: Is it mean of me to say, when I think of the activities that you do, sometimes I think of Felix doing like, old man activities.

Felix Poon: What other old man activities do I do?

Nate Hegyi: Didn’t you do tai chi as well?

Felix Poon: Did I mention that when you were talking about retirement accounts?

Nate Hegyi: You did.

Felix Poon: I mean, you’re one to speak, you’re talking about retirement accounts.

Nate Hegyi: That’s fair, that’s fair. And now you’re playing pickleball.

Felix Poon: Nate, pickleball is the fastest growing sport in America Nate, get with the times!

Anchor 1: Pickleball.

Anchor 2: Pickleball.

Anchor 3: Pickleball.

Anchor 4: Yes, pickleball.

Anchor 5: This is pickleball.

[MUX IN: ES_Horizonte - West & Zander]

Felix Poon: So I’ve seen a lot of different numbers, but reports say that the number of pickleball players has at least DOUBLED since the start of the pandemic.

And depending on who you count as a pickleball player, one report says that pickleball now has more participants than baseball, soccer, and football have combined.

Nate Hegyi: Wow, if I was an anchor, I’d call it: America’s newest pastime.

Felix Poon: Yeah, exactly. And according to another report I found, since 2017, court space in major cities is up by 650%.

there are courts in the suburbs. There are courts in prisons….

News clip: San Quentin is on a path to overhauling correctional culture one whack at a time… everyone’s getting so addicted to it.”

Even star athletes from LeBron James to Tom Brady co-own professional pickleball teams.

[MUX OUT: ES_Horizonte - West & Zander]

Tom Brady: Pickleball - I’m super excited to announce I am officially joining the MLP family… But I’m coming to win. Pickleball. Let’s [bleep] go.

Nate Hegyi: Was that MLP? Major League Pickleball?

Felix Poon: Yup. [hums “NFL on Fox” theme song]. It’s Pickleball Sunday!

But pickleball… may also be the most hated sport in the country.

News anchor: Imagine listening to that all hours of the day.

You’ve got residents losing sleep because of the noise.

News clip: 7:15 in the morning until about 10:00 o’clock at night, it’s just pop pop pop pop, and it is, it’s driving people crazy.

People are calling the police and filing lawsuits.

On Nantucket they’re even considering an island-wide ban on pickleball.

Nate Hegyi: Wow. Are people that annoyed? Is it that much louder than a bouncing basketball or tennis ball?

Felix Poon: Technically, they’re about the same. But pickleball pops are higher frequency, and higher frequency sounds have been scientifically proven to be more annoying.

But also, Pickleball is just like, unpredictable, it’s erratic. It’s like, pop pop, pop pop, pop.

Nate Hegyi: Yeah it’s like popcorn popping constantly in your backyard, all of the time. I can see how that could get annoying.

Felix Poon: Anyway, there is this one pickleball group I want to tell you about today, Nate. It’s the group that I play with in Boston.

Here - there’s a different controversy that’s come up.

That’s because the court I play on wasn’t built from scratch. It was basically converted… from one sport to another.

Martha Merson: there are pickleball courts here, we're coming to play. It's first come, first serve. What what are we doing wrong? We're not doing anything wrong. And why are people trying to make us feel as though we're criminals?

Nate Hegyi: Geez. Dramaaaaa.

[MUX ES_The Eternal War - Dream Cave IN]

Felix Poon: Lemme put on my movie trailer voice.

Felix Poon: In a world…where pickleball is popping up, everywhere. One man, and one woman, find out what it takes, for everyone to get along.

Nate Hegyi: This is Outside/In. Today, Felix Poon has the story of a new kind of turf war… and how one community is trying to make peace with pickleball.

[MUX SWELL AND FADE ES_The Eternal War]

<<FIRST HALF>>

Felix Poon: So let me introduce you to Kemardo Henry.

Felix Poon: what did you have for breakfast this morning?

Kemardo Henry: Oh, um, I had a Jamaican patty.

Not the best breakfast food, but. And then a copious amount of coffee.

Felix Poon: That sounds like a healthy breakfast to me.

Kemardo Henry: Yeah, well, I had eight, eight cups of coffee, so I don't know if that's, like, healthy.

Felix Poon: Eight cups of coffee.

Kemardo Henry: Yeah. Yeah, well, like metric cups.

Felix Poon: Okay so I looked it up a metric cup is actually more than what we call a cup in the US. But anyway.

Kemardo is a microbiologist. Surprisingly chill given the caffeine (and by the way a metric cup is actually more than a US cup). But he’s also very competitive. Until recently, his sport of choice was dodgeball.

Felix Poon: Which one do you love more?

Kemardo Henry: Uh, I love pickleball more than dodgeball. Yeah.

Felix Poon: Wow. Okay. You've made the full conversion.

Kemardo Henry: I've made a full conversion.

Felix Poon: I’ve played Kemardo a bunch of times. He’s a lot of fun to play with, super friendly.

But he still brings the heat.

Kemardo Henry: this sounds a little mean, but, like, I like catching people off guard when you hit a drive, and then they freak out and they just hit it out.

Felix Poon: Yeah. So you're almost still playing dodgeball.

Kemardo Henry: In some sense. I'm still playing dodgeball.

[MUX IN: Vernouillet]

But the game itself isn’t the main thing that brings Kemardo to the courts. It’s the community. And a pretty great community has popped up here at this one court in the neighborhood of Jamaica Plain - or JP for short.

The South Street courts are almost like a town square, or the dining hall at college. You can basically show up on a whim, and there’ll be people there who know your name.

Pickleball is social, quick to learn for beginners. And I know the stereotype out there is that it’s mainly played by old white retirees… but the group here is pretty diverse.

There are different ages. Different accents. Mostly a mix of white and asian players. There’s a deaf pickleballer—people use their hands to sign the score to him.

Kemardo is one of the few Black players in the group.

And they’re all mixing and playing together…because it’s pickup. Everyone plays with everyone.

[MUX SWELL AND FADE OUT: Vernouillet]

Felix Poon: But one thing we’ve all had to get used to: Playing pickleball means learning to tune out the insults.

Felix Poon: do you ever read the comments and do you see people disparaging pickleball?

Kemardo Henry: Yes.

I watched a few Instagram reels with Kemardo. And people in the comments say pickleball isn’t a real sport. It’s tennis for the unathletic. Or it’s for old people. Or it’s just boring.

Felix Poon: I just found this this one disparaging comment here.

Kemardo Henry: Stop this joke and play tennis. Wow. Stuff like that. That really, um, irks me because it's like you went out of your way to really, you know, downgrade someone's fun.

Felix Poon: But Kemardo’s like, okay fine, whatever. It’s the internet. Haters are gonna hate.

Then…came the petition.

[MUX IN: Rumoi Night]

It was this past summer. A guy posted a petition to change dot org. It read: “We, the undersigned…have become increasingly frustrated by the high-volume use of the courts for pickleball.

It goes on to complain that local residents are exasperated by the noise.

It complains that pickleball players are taking up all the parking for local businesses.

But then… and this is the big thing … the petition says pickleball is pushing out basketball players.

so this is where I need to explain something about the space itself. It was originally two tennis courts. It still is… technically.

But, on either end of the courts are basketball hoops, complete with basketball lines drawn over the tennis lines.

And then in 2021, the city painted lines for pickleball courts on top of all that. Players can setup up to 6 portable pickleball nets over the whole thing.

Three sports. One court.

Now technically - all it would take is four people playing tennis to hog the whole space. But that hasn’t been the problem.

Ever since the new lines, pickleball players have had a commanding presence on the court, with dozens of people cycling through from as early as 7am to 10pm… the whole summer.

[MUX SWELL AND FADE OUT: Rumoi Night]

over 200 people signed this petition, which is a lot for one little corner of a neighborhood in Boston. I had Kemardo read some of the angry comments.

Kemardo Henry: There have been several times where I’ve played tennis and I’ve been pressured to prioritize pickleball players.

Kemardo Henry: I'm a teenage boy that used to play basketball there every day, but now feel as though I am not allowed to play anymore.

Kemardo Henry: Stephanie, Uh, disturbing to see basketball courts that were once used by local kids, now taken over by pickleball player who even set up their own nets on the basketball courts. This is not fair use of public space.

It doesn’t say so outright - but the implication here is saying something about race: that the kids who used to play basketball here, they were mostly kids of color. and pickleball is taking away one of the few spaces where kids are free to be kids.

One of the comments on the petition says it another way: that gentrification is taking over JP.

Kemardo says he gets it. He’s seen it happen— basketball players would approach the courts with a ball, but once they got there they’d just turn around and leave.

But the narrative that the pickleball group is exclusionary, or pushing people out…it makes some of the players uncomfortable.

Like Martha Merson.

Martha Merson: Jamaica Plain in general has a pretty tight knit community feel. And it carries over to the pickleball courts.

Felix Poon: The South Street Courts are really right in the heart of Jamaica Plain. Kemardo first started coming because he saw it from his bus ride home from work – people are right there, having fun.

Martha Merson: So when you arrive, almost anybody arrives. People will greet you by name. People are immersed in their game, but as soon as they look up, as soon as the point is over. Hey, Felix. Hey, Martha.

And I don't have a dog. You know, like I don't have a kid. Nobody treats me like I'm a rock star. Hey, it's so amazing to see you. I'm so happy you're here. So that right there is a gift.

Felix Poon: So you feel like a rock star when you walk onto the South Street courts

Martha Merson: a little.

[MUX IN: Sino de Cobre]

Felix Poon: To Martha, Everyone is a rock star at the JP pickleball courts. Everyone is welcome. Which is why–

Martha Merson: as the language over the summer got more and more heated and there were more and more accusations of pickleball players either monopolizing the court, squeezing people out, being selfish…. All of those things felt more personal and hurtful.

[MUX SWELL : Sino de Cobre]

One of the things Martha likes to talk about is the number of people that can play pickleball at a time. Compared to tennis, you can fit nearly SIX TIMES as many players on the South Street courts.

So if we measure our parks by how many people use them - pickleball seems like a big improvement here.

But that sort of thinking pits sports against one another… and I can see how it could get you in trouble.

Felix Poon: if a bunch of ping pong players rolled in a bunch of ping pong tables and, like, set up ping pong tables on the South Street courts

it's a wacky idea. But hypothetically, in that scenario, if that happened, like, what would you what would you do?

Martha Merson: Um, I think if ping pong players take over … and it’s primetime… there would have to be some negotiation and some discussion. But I think as adults we would come and try to have that conversation.

Right. And, um, I think that was part of what was difficult was that young people of color are not going to come and talk to white adults or challenge their use of a space.

[MUX SWELL : Sino de Cobre]

Felix Poon: Martha knows that’s a big reason why this petition was created. The guy who started it is white - but he’s expressed concern for the young people of color that used to spend more time here.

Still - the petition only had one demand – to start a conversation.

It didn’t even say what the end goal was.

But the underlying question seemed to be: who is this space really for?

[MUX SWELL AND FADE OUT: Sino de Cobre]

The local city councilor got involved, and coordinated a public meeting about the issue. A few days before the meeting, the pickleball group rallied its members for a kind of pre-game discussion.

Kemardo Henry: Alright everyone, good afternoon, my name is Kemardo Henry, I’m glad everyone was able to show up. Um. We’re all here because of pickleball.

I’m guessing everyone has seen the change dot org petition.

They met on the bleachers behind a school. A few dozen people showed up.

In the corner there’s this industrial HVAC vent that kept kicking on and off.

Pickleball player 1: I never thought I could play something like pickleball.

And since I've been playing, I am quite literally younger. I feel like I'm five years younger than I was when I started playing. I move better, I bend better, I'm faster, I feel better, I've lost weight. Um, it's I love pickleball and yeah, that's what I would say.

Felix Poon: A lot of it was like group therapy for pickleballers under attack.

Pickleball has reported health benefits, especially for seniors. One survey of older adults found that 70% felt less stress and anxiety after playing pickleball, they felt like they had better cognition, self-esteem, and even sense of community. (see also)

Michele: I've been in Boston for 20 years, ten of which are in JP. I've never met as many people in the last 20 years as I did in the last six months, and that's all around pickleball.

[MUX IN: Inspector F]

But as much as they loved their sport, they understood the problem it created. They knew they were a victim of their own success.

Pickleball player 2: I mean, when I first started playing pickleball almost three years ago, there were always kids on the court, right?

Pickleball player 3: Yeah, yeah, that's what I remember. And I'm really. I have I'd like to see them come back out.

Felix Poon: They brainstormed ideas for how to better accommodate everyone.

What about a reservation system? Or designating certain times for basketball, and other times for pickleball?

Figuring this all out felt really complicated.

Maria Torella: we're agreeing to have priority for a basketball court, but that takes over a whole tennis court.

And if the tennis players on the other side, they're taking up four pickleball courts. So, I mean we’ve talked about in the long term…

[MUX SWELL AND FADE OUT: Inspector F]

A few days later, it was time for the public discussion about the courts, the one that the change dot org petition demanded.

It was just a short walk away, in this big brick and granite building, called the Curtis Hall Community Center. It’s basically like a public YMCA run by the city of Boston.

On my way in, a fellow pickleballer recognized me.

Ellen Goodman: Hi. Are you recording?

Felix Poon: I am

Ellen Goodman: are you recording?

Felix Poon: I am

Pickleball player 4: It’s Felix.

Ellen Goodman: Felix. You look familiar. You play pickleball, don't you?

Felix Poon: Yeah I do. Yeah.

Ellen Goodman: I have a bone to pick with the reporters, but not you. I would like the reporters not to continue to foment divisiveness by the way they report.

Felix Poon: I don't like to do that. How? What’s been…

Ellen Goodman: I don't think you will.

Felix Poon: What's been reported so far that has fomented…

Ellen Goodman: Well, the by lines are kind of, you know, like English high giving four new pickleball courts and lights as opposed to there's a complete renovation and there will be new this and new that. You know, so somebody reads the byline and starts talking trash and didn't even read the article like that.

[MUX IN: ES_The Cave Race - Bonnie Grace]

Felix Poon: Coming up next. A hugely divisive battle.

Anchorwoman 1: If you ask people about this. This is not a joke. Like, this is a serious fight.

Vicious trash-talk.

Anchorwoman 2: You don’t mess around with people’s pickleball playing.

Who will win? Find out… after a break.

Anchorwoman 1: No. A legitimate turf war that is happening.

Basketball players in Jamaica Plain, this is what’s happening…

[MUX FADE OUT: ES_The Cave Race - Bonnie Grace]

<<MIDROLL BREAK>>

Melissa Beltran: You guys can please spread out to the chairs over there to the left. Or if you want to sit on that table. We just want to make room.

Felix Poon: I’m in a meeting room at the Curtis Hall Community Center. And we’re about to start the big public meeting about the courts in Jamaica Plain.

Ironically, above our meeting room, is a basketball court.

Bonnie Delaune: You could also make joke about how it's really hot and the basketball players are playing above so that we simulate like the stress level.

Ben Weber: Yes. Yeah, exactly.

Ben Weber is the city councilor who represents this district, and he’s here with a staffer. She’s advising him on what to say to kick off the meeting.

Bonnie Delaune: I think it's funny.

Ben Weber: Yeah. Uh, yeah. Well, I'll be out there with the basketball. You just hit me in the face with a pickle ball. Exactly. Yeah.

Kemardo’s here but he’s really just managing the Zoom.

Kemardo Henry: I have to, like, admit people as they pop up.

Ben Weber: Hello? Yeah. Can everyone hear me? Can anyone hear me? Yes. Okay. Uh, my name is Ben Weber. I am the, uh, the city councilor for district six. I represent

[applause]

uh, thanks. Yeah. Don't applaud yet.

[laughter]

Felix Poon: Ben introduces the who’s who at this meeting. Martha’s here.

Soren Whited, the guy who started the change dot org petition, he’s here.

And they each give an introductory spiel, almost like opening arguments in a legal proceeding. Because this is, after all, a court drama.

Soren Whited: I don't regard it as a matter of bad behavior on the part of the pickleball community

Felix Poon: This is Soren.

The vast majority of interactions that I've had with pickleballers have been pleasant, polite, you know, people people are very respectful. Um, but it's just a matter of of volume of people.

Felix Poon: Soren wraps up. Then Martha talks.

[00:44:41-00:44:50] Martha Merson: we're proud of Jamaica Plain because of our community, our strong ties. There is no us and them. There's just us. We need to work it out.

Okay can I just say, for a public community meeting … this was refreshingly cordial? Unlike the news clips I played earlier, it seemed like everybody was here to work something out.

Anyway, they divided up the room into breakout groups for discussion.

[ambi]

[01:03:06-01:03:12] Woman 1: I could see some sort of agreement that each pickleball player needs to read and sign when they come in,

[01:03:20-01:03:25] Woman 1: that everyone, the adults are on [01:03:28-01:03:38] high alert because we really need to keep these spaces for our youth…

[CROSSFADE]

[01:11:00-01:11:27] Speaker22: The only way this problem is going to solve itself is that a net and some lines to divide the basketball courts from the pickleball courts.

And that way this issue would be would go away.

The groups reported back to the bigger group. The whole process was polite and orderly. And then, the meeting was over.

[01:47:36-01:47:43] Melissa Beltran: So with that, we're wrapping up. We do want to leave this space the way we found it. So again, you don't got to go home. But you do got to get out of here.

[furniture moving ambi]

Felix Poon: I went up to Soren, the guy who started the change dot org petition, to ask how he felt about the meeting.

Soren Whited: I think it went about as well as could be expected. Probably better than I did expect.

[MUX IN: Selena Leica]

Felix Poon: Better in what regards?

Soren Whited: Uh, I actually I didn't necessarily anticipate, but I but I was prepared for the possibility of, of a bit more of a contentious conversation. Perhaps the decision to do breakout groups helped in that regard, made things a little bit more intimate.

Soren Whited: Uh, but, you know, I think also there was just. More common ground than I thought there would be regarding concern about youth having access.

[MUX SWELL: Selena Leica]

Soren thought that the best long-term solution was to redraw the lines on the court. Make it so that the players of different sports didn’t overlap so much. Basically, to separate them.

But that would be up to the city’s Parks and Rec department.

In the meantime, what Kemardo and Martha did just a couple weeks after this meeting, was just the opposite.

[MUX FADE OUT : Selena Leica]

They organized a meet and greet between basketball players and pickleball players.

Corey Stallings: Hold up, before we start, you all wanted to do intros?

Martha Merson: It’s helpful to know people’s names because…

It was a hot day in August. A youth center down the street brought a group of kids over to hang out and mingle.

Kemardo Henry: You want to hit towards him just to get a feel of hitting the ball.

Martha and Kemardo taught the kids how to play. Most of them were into it. Some of them, not so much. It reminded me a lot of an awkward PE class.

Beth, an older white pickleball player wound up talking to a girl named Zariyah.

Zariyah Cherise: we stopped coming up here because it was just like, we don't feel like arguing with people older than us. Like, we’re gonna give respect. If y’all don’t wanna move it’s fine, whatever.

Beth: Yeah, I hear that. And what about like coming back? What about now?

Beth thinks the problem is in the past. Ever since the petition, pickleball players almost always leave a half court open for basketball.

But if kids don’t come back and use it more often… it can feel like an empty gesture. And sometimes… a waste of good pickleball space.

Beth: And what do they think about coming back and

Zariyah Cherise: Huh? What do you mean? Like here?

Beth: What do they think about coming back and feeling access to here.

Zariyah Cherise: Yeah, they they're excited about it. They can't wait.

Beth: So well, anytime, pretty much virtually anytime. You know, that's what the kind of space that we're trying to create here, that basketball players just have priority. Um, so yeah. That's the goal.

Felix Poon: Beth, Martha and Kemardo, they all seem eager to show that pickleball can co-exist here. None of them want their joy to come at the expense of someone else's.

But will any of this good will make a difference?

I caught up with Zariyah after the event to ask how she really felt.

Felix Poon: So I was talking to Beth. She was saying like, oh, like all this conflict was a before thing. Now like we've we've changed things this year like that. Yeah.

Zariyah Cherise: It's it's a still ongoing thing. Even if she didn't do it herself, it's still an ongoing thing.

But, um, you know, what can you do?

I just gotta, like, move along sometimes. I don't know.

Felix Poon: Yeah. So do you think this event will help anything?

[MUX IN: Louver]

Zariyah Cherise: No, because I feel like we've tried so many times to, like, kind of make amends. But, um, I think it just never worked. So people are just like, take the ball and move. Like, it's it's kind of like in a bad area right now. So yes, they're like opening the playing. But me, I, I've always felt some type of way because that stopped me doing what I like to do with my friends. Um, yeah.

[MUX SWELL: Louver]

At the end of the day, the south street courts are literally just a big slab of concrete in the city.

But they’ve come to mean so much to the people who play here.

For the kids who used to come and play basketball, it was a place to get away from all the rules and adults in their lives, to make memories with friends.

For the pickleballers it’s become a real antidote to the isolation of being an adult in the 21st century.

The fact that both groups could coexist, side by side…it’s a beautiful vision.

But, at the end of the day, maybe this one space can’t be everything for everyone.

In fact, Martha thinks that the whole conversation about the South Street Courts has missed the bigger picture.

Martha Merson: What space do pickleball players have? What space do tennis players have? What space do basketball players have? Are we under utilizing some spaces? Could we be using other spaces more? How can we advocate for each other so that we all have access to the play spaces that we want and need and crave?

[MUX SWELL AND FADE OUT: Louver]

At the South Street courts, the solution that ultimately came out of the community meeting…

…were two banners, They were hung up in September. I went to take a look at them with Kemardo a couple months later.

Felix Poon: So these are the banners.

Kemardo Henry: These are the banners that pickleball players and basketball players and members of the community worked on.

There’s one in English, and one in Spanish.

Kemardo Henry: Yeah. So it says welcome to the JP South Street Courts. Thank you for fostering a welcoming environment for all to play in this public space.

We encourage everyone…

Felix Poon: The banner goes on to tell everyone to share the space, be mindful of noise. And it very nicely tells pickleball and tennis players to always leave a half court open for basketball.

It gives real kumbaya vibes… but Kemardo says it’s about establishing a community norm of sharing space.

I asked him if he thought the banners had made a difference yet. But he says it’s hard to tell.

It did seem like there were more basketball players coming back this summer. But November isn’t exactly basketball season.

Kemardo Henry: The banner installation, you know, occurred when it started getting cold. So it's a little a little tricky to tell if, um, you know, the drop in basketball use is due to. Oh, that's a good shot. That's a good shot.

Felix Poon: That was a good shot. We're distracted here by the pickleball game.

Felix Poon: To finish his thought, there wasn’t the same demand on the courts by the time the banners went up.

But there is another reason the space might be shifting too.

The city just finished renovating a bunch of outdoor courts at a nearby school called English High.

They fixed up the basketball courts. They fixed up the tennis courts. AND, they installed four new dedicated pickleball courts.

Three sports. Three courts.

As positive as this is, I also can’t help but wonder if something’s lost by segmenting everyone into their own separate bubbles.

The English High courts are kind of tucked away, behind a building. Not like the South Street Courts where people are walking by all the time, and it really does feel like a kind of town square.

In a weird way, this whole court drama was a credit to the space… because it forced everyone to come together, to try and understand each other’s perspectives.

Which is why, despite being a little bit pollyanna, I do appreciate the banners.

I doubt they’ll fix all future conflict on their own – but they essentially ask people to at least give it a shot.

And these days, that might be the most important thing.

Kemardo Henry: Yeah. So I think the real test would be when it gets warm and see how well the banner really works when, you know, foot traffic on the courts increase.

Felix Poon: Should we go to English? Yeah. Lead the way.

[MUX IN: ES_Team Player - Rocket Jr]

<<CREDITS>>

Felix Poon: So what’s your prediction Kemardo, are we gonna win?

Kemardo Henry: I would say we get three. Three 11

Felix Poon: What? That’s it?

Nate Hegyi: This episode was reported, produced, and mixed by Felix Pickleball Poon.

It was edited by Taylor B Ball Quimby. Taylor is the executive producer of Outside/In.

Felix Poon: 6-6-2!

I’m your host and line judge Nate Hegyi.

Rebecca Lavoie is head coach of on-demand audio at NHPR.

Our team also includes Justine Paradis, Marina Henke and Kate Dario.

Felix Poon: Heads up!

Felix Poon: Do you have thoughts about pickleball you want to share with us? Whether you love playing the sport, or hate the way it sounds, send us an email at outsidein@nhpr.org. Or leave a message on our voicemail 1-844-GO-OTTER.

Ahmed: 10-7-1

Nate Hegyi: Music in this episode is from Blue Dot Sessions. West & Zander, Hampus Naeselius, Bonnie Grace, and Rocket Jr.

Our theme music is by Breakmaster Cylinder.

Outside/In is a production of NHPR

Felix Poon: Oh!

Kemardo Henry: Oh! I almost had it!

Jacob: Great game. Doubled your expectations.