HOULTON, Maine — Pickleball fever is spreading quickly in Houlton, which is adding outdoor courts to give local picklers year-round access.
On Monday night, the Houlton Town Council accepted a $50,000 donation from the Christopher & Nancy Pierce Charitable Foundation to be used for Houlton Parks and Recreation outdoor pickleball courts.
The racket sport’s popularity has grown quickly in this Aroostook County town even though they do not have official courts, Houlton Parks and Recreation Director Owen Gallop said. He has taped off areas in the rec center gym for games and the hand-created courts are open three mornings and one evening every week, he said.
A cross between tennis and badminton, pickleball participation nearly doubled nationally in 2022, with nearly 9 million players in the United States, according to a report from the
Sports & Fitness Industry Association (SFIA) and Pickleheads.
For the past three years, pickleball has ranked as America’s fastest-growing sport, the report said. Players use a solid paddle smaller than a mesh tennis racket and the court is about half the size of a tennis court. The smaller court size drew more players to the sport during the pandemic because they could play in a driveway.
The Pierce Charitable Foundation gift provides seed money to get the outdoor program up and running, Gallop said.
While it’s notoriously known as an older person’s sport, picklers aged 18 to 34 make up the largest percentage of pickleball players, according to Brandon Mackie, co-founder of Pickleheads, a pickleball online community. At the Houlton rec center, most players are over 50, but younger people are becoming more interested, Gallop said.
Gallop and town officials are still figuring out how many outdoor courts they will create, but having outdoor access allows people to play year round, he said. The town is in the preliminary stages of planning the courts, determining potential locations and developing a cost plan.
“The gift is incredibly generous and it will be appreciated by many, youth and older,” Councilor Eileen McLaughlin said. “It is a substantial donation and a big benefit to our town.”
