Eastpointe

Pickleball court, skate park are big hits at Kennedy Park

By Sara Kandel
C & G Staff Writer

» Click on image to view full size « Photo by David Schreiber Phil Ciaramitaro, 69, of Clinton Township, left, shows Joshua Strong, 7, of Eastpointe the proper technique for serving in pickleball. The new court is something city officials hope young and old alike can enjoy. Photo by David Schreiber Phil Ciaramitaro, 69, of Clinton Township, left, shows Joshua Strong, 7, of Eastpointe the proper technique for serving in pickleball. The new court is something city officials hope young and old alike can enjoy. Photo by David Schreiber Clinton Township resident Phil Ciaramitaro, 69, says he used to try and golf every day, but now he plays pickleball way more often. Photo by David Schreiber Eastpointe's Nick Cramer, 12, takes his bike over a jump ramp at the recently opened skate park in Eastpointe's Kennedy Park.

The city’s improvements to Kennedy Park were officially completed when on Sept. 16, elected representatives and city administrators held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the formal opening of the new skate park and pickleball court.

The skate park has been in use by kids from all over the county since August, with as many as 40 youngsters packed in and around the fenced-in area on any nice day, but the pickleball courts were just completed a few weeks ago. And while they haven’t seen the same instantaneous and constant attention as the skate park, they received a fair amount of fanfare at a demonstration the city held the day after the ribbon cutting.

You could say pickleball, a growing rage across the country, is the offspring of tennis and ping-pong. The court looks like a blown-up ping-pong table and the sport is played very similarly to tennis or badminton with a whiffle ball and paddles, and it’s fast-paced but without intense physical exertion — making it extremely popular among seniors.

“I think it got popularized among seniors that used to play tennis because it doesn’t require a lot of movement like tennis does, but it’s still fast-paced,” said Acting City Manager Randy Altimus. “And I hear it’s really addicting: Once you start playing, you play every day. It’s certainly entertaining to watch.”

Both the skate park and the pickleball court were paid for by funds the city received through the federal Neighborhood Stabilization Program, or NSP, in a use-it-or-lose-it offer that also covered the cost of the demolition of Kellwood Elementary School and the restructuring of Oakwood Middle School to become senior living complex.

The city decided to add the pickleball court after Parks and Recreation Director Maureen Carter noticed more and more seniors who winter in Florida returning and raving about it.

“I first heard about it about 10 years ago and within a year all the seniors were talking about it,” Carter said.

She never saw the sport played until a few years ago and never actually picked up a paddle until the courts opened in Eastpointe last month.

“It’s really fun to play — kind of like a step down from tennis where it doesn’t take too much but you can still work up a sweat,” she said. “I call it ‘jumping ping-pong,’ though, because it’s played like ping-pong and it kind of makes the same sound as a ping-pong ball hitting the paddles.”

Carter said the sport is pretty easy to learn and the hardest part for most people is getting over the name and the method of scoring.

“People think it is something else when they hear the name — a ‘pickle ball’ is a term in baseball, but that type of play has nothing to do with the game — it was named after the inventor’s dog who used to chase the balls around the court and hide them in the bushes.”

The scoring is similar to tennis in that you say each score before serving but you also add on your player number. So someone serving would say their score, their opponent’s score and if they are player one or player two.

Despite the game’s growing popularity, it isn’t always easy to find equipment. Carter recommends ordering online or stopping in a sporting goods store, and if they don’t have it on hand seeing if they can order it for you.

As of right now, the Community Center isn’t stocking extra equipment, but they are looking to arrange more demonstrations.

“If people are interested in playing, they can come in or call us and leave their name and number, and we will arrange times for more demonstrations and games,” Carter said.

Although the court’s popularity won’t be fully realized until next season as fall weather is upon us, Altimus said if the court is as popular as it seems it the sport is, the city saved room for additional courts, if funding is available.

As for an expansion on the skate park — there are no plans as of yet, but it’s something for which the dozens of kids at the ribbon cutting were asking.

“There were close to 50 kids already there when we got there, just using the park, and we included them and then more came for the ribbon cutting and to skate,” Altimus said. “They were fun to talk to because they would like me to expand it to twice the size already because it has gotten so popular.”

Some kids from the skate park also made their way to the pickleball demonstration the following day, where they played with seniors, sparking an idea for Carter.

“It would be great if we could get the generations to mix through this one sport,” she said. And while nothing is planned yet, she is looking into the possibility of future classes and tournaments.
 

You can reach C & G Staff Writer Sara Kandel at skandel@candgnews.com or at (586)498-1030.