Roundtree Park to get pickleball courts; advocates push for courts at Wakefield Park
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| Pickleball advocates teach the game to Braddock Supervisor James Walkinshaw (left) at Wakefield Park. |
Here’s some good news for pickleball players: Fairfax County will paint two pickleball courts on one of the tennis courts at Roundtree Park on Annandale Road.
That is happening as the tennis courts at Roundtree are being resurfaced as part of a major renovation of the park. The Park Authority has been asked to provide portable nets on wheels that can be rolled onto the courts so pickleball players won’t need to bring their own net.
That’s a start, but much more needs to be done, says pickleball advocate Helen White. Pickleball is an increasingly popular sport, and demand is rapidly outgrowing capacity.
Related story: Roundtree tennis courts to close for renovation
It’s the vision of FCAP to make Wakefield Park in Annandale “an outstanding pickleball venue,” White says. The group met recently with Park Authority officials and Braddock Supervisor James Walkinshaw to push their case.
The Park Authority has painted two tennis courts at Wakefield with lines for pickleball using the net. But one court has a lot of dead spots where the ball doesn’t bounce, so the court needs to be resurfaced, White says.
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| The tennis courts at Roundtree Park are being resurfaced and repainted for pickleball. |
FCAP recommends courts 9 and 10 at Wakefield be converted into six dedicated pickleball courts and that court 11 become four dedicated pickleball courts. As a short-term measure, the group urges the county to paint stripes for two pickleball courts on tennis courts so they can be used with portable pickleball nets and increase the number of people who can play at one time.
Tennis courts are 36 feet wide. Pickleball courts are 22 feet wide and use a slightly lower net and a plastic whiffle ball.
Pickleball is much easier to play than tennis, says White, who teaches the sport at Spring Hill RECenter in McLean and the Burke Racquet and Swim Club. “You can pick up pickleball and become a decent player pretty quickly.”
Related story: Petition seeks more pickleball courts
There just aren’t enough places to play pickleball in the county. White notes that there are always people waiting to play at the four pickleball courts in Van Dyck Park in the City of Fairfax.
There are about 30 outdoor tennis courts at 16 venues in Fairfax County that have lines for pickleball. There are also courts at private community pools and recreation clubs, but those have restricted memberships.
FCAP is also pushing for more indoor pickleball courts. There are some at the James Lee Community Center and other places but those courts are temporarily closed due to the COVID pandemic.
Several supervisors are interested in expanding pickleball options, White says, but the county won’t proceed until a Park Authority study is completed next spring.
They should have done this at the new Baileys Crossroads Interim Park that no one uses except for a few of the homeless. But that would have been too smart for the Mason supervisor to have done. $100K on a useless park that serves no one. Although I must stay, Penny must be taking Geritol for the grass island down Columbia Pike has never looked so good. It must be because of the election.
The tennis courts at Round tree park are packed almost every evening anf on weekends.
In the four years of me living across from them – they're one of the most occupied tennis courts i've ever seen.
Great job,
thank you for that.