Glass half full: After years of asking for it, Greeley residents are set to get new outdoor pickleball courts

New pickleball courts at Sherwood Park are set to open to the public in May 2021. Photo courtesy of the City of Greeley.

By Kelly Ragan

This is kind of a big dill – Greeley is getting new pickleball courts.

The City of Greeley is finishing up construction on new pickleball courts at Sherwood Park, 2820 13th St. Come May, the public (you fine people) will be able to use them.

According to a news release from the city, a fresh new concrete slab has replaced the old asphalt tennis courts with eight new, individual pickleball courts.

Construction crews will have to wait for warmer weather before the final topcoat can be applied, according to the release.

Pickleball is a paddleball sport that sort of combines badminton, table tennis, and tennis. It’s been gaining popularity in the community for years.

More than a decade ago, Chloe Childers, winner of the Huntsman World Senior Games in her early 80s, helped bring pickleball to Greeley. For years, she taught a beginners group at the Greeley Senior Activity Center. Back then, Childers would take measurements of the courts at the Greeley Recreation Center and tape of the boundaries to play the game.

A physical education teacher for many years, Childers told the Greeley Tribune in 2017 that pickleball was the most fun of all the sports she’d played.

According to the news release, residents have been requesting that Greeley’s Culture, Parks and Recreation Department built outdoor pickleball courts – like Windsor did in 2016.

In the spring of 2021, once the final topcoat has been applied and the surfacing has a chance to cure, residents are set to finally get their wish.