NAHANT — A petition to modify the two tennis courts at Flash Road Community Recreation Area to install four public pickleball courts gained momentum on Thursday as Selectman Josh Antrim added the petition onto the Board of Selectmen’s new business-agenda-item list.
Town Administrator Antonio Barletta said the town is communicating with Nesra Engineering, LLC to find out the cost of the proposed changes to the tennis courts. The town will then engage with the public about possible next steps.
“The tennis courts were a two-year project in the making,” Barletta said. “The original intent was to revitalize the original basketball and tennis courts that have been in disrepair for decades with this new support for pickleball. We will engage with the public to see if we can satisfy all athletic groups.”
Dave Aldrich, a pickleball player from Nahant and drafter of the petition, said he and his fellow athletes were surprised but happy that the town is moving forward in looking at their proposal.
“The town was terrific in responding to this,” Aldrich said. “What’s important is that the town always takes a step back and takes a look at the big picture of what’s best for the town. That doesn’t happen too often in other municipalities.”
Currently, the town’s two tennis courts have pickleball lines drawn on them to accommodate athletes of the sport.
The petition was first posted online on Feb. 27 and has a set goal of 200 signatures. As of now, 159 have signed the petition.
Aldrich said he and five other members of the Nahant pickleball community thought they would only receive 50 signatures a week.
He said they were shocked to find that the petition had received 50 signatures in an hour.
“On our Facebook account, we had about 17 members,” Aldrich said. “It then grew to 60. That just shows how large this community is growing.”
Pickleball is very similar to tennis. Two players on opposite sides of the court use small wooden rackets to bounce a Wiffle ball diagonally across the field to one another. The ball must be served underhand and must bounce at least once. If the ball doesn’t touch the opponent’s racket or the server faults, a point is scored for the opposing team. The first team to score 11 points wins the game.
According to the petition, Pickleball is the fastest growing sport in the United States. The two-year growth rate is 39 percent and 60 percent of core players are 55 years of age and older.
Aldrich notes Nahant is an aging community and said having a pickleball court would allow for more accessibility rather than having to drive to the Marblehead court or the Demakes Family YMCA in Lynn to play pickleball.
“I know this is going to be a wonderful way to utilize open space and recreational plans here,” he said. “It will bring so many people who know each other together, including people who don’t know each other.”