Signs are up at local tennis courts saying pickleball isn’t allowed on tennis courts, just like tennis isn’t allowed on pickleball courts. (Action Line)
Signs are up at local tennis courts saying pickleball isn’t allowed on tennis courts, just like tennis isn’t allowed on pickleball courts. (Action Line)

Dear Action Line,

Some pickleballers seem to think it’s fine to play on tennis courts. Do you think they’d be OK if we tennis players hit around on the pickleball courts? I’m curious whether pickleball is even technically “allowed” on city tennis courts. I seem to remember signs being put up that said “tennis only.” Has that changed?

I know and even love many pickleball players, and encourage their enthusiasm and zeal for this sport that apparently is not just a fad. However, when they draw lines on tennis courts it’s confusing to tennis players, and when they adjust net heights, it can at best be a pain in the neck and at worst break the net, which seems to have happened recently at Mason Center.

Maybe the local pickleball and tennis groups (the latter of which puts money into area tennis courts, by the way), as well as Parks and Rec, have something to say on this issue? One more thought that you probably can’t answer: Wouldn’t it be good business for someone to open a private indoor pickleball center around here?

Signed, Pickled Pepper

Dear Pickled Pepper,

I reached out to the city and local racket enthusiasts, and the city must have had something in the works already because within a few days of my inquiry, there were signs up at the tennis courts saying pickleball isn’t allowed on tennis courts, just like tennis isn’t allowed on the pickleball courts. Sort of reminds me of those “I don’t swim in your toilet, please don’t pee in our pool” signs you’d see as a kid at the local pool (it’s about as easy to play tennis on a pickleball court as it is to swim in a toilet, but it makes the point). As you indicate, there were similar signs up in the past once the pickleball courts got built, but they had blown away or something.

The city tennis courts include Mason, Skyridge and Fort Lewis College, and reservations for both the tennis and pickleball courts (which are at Schneider Park) can be made online. The high school tennis courts are owned by Durango School District, which also said pickleball is not permitted there. As for when tennis can be played at the high school by the general public, the spokesperson for the district, Karla Sluis, told me: “The courts may be used by the public for tennis on weekends during the fall and spring. On weekdays, public use is allowed after student practices conclude, typically after 7 p.m. The courts are closed and locked during the winter months.”

And yes someone should open a year-round pickleball center, the demand is there!

Email questions and suggestions to [email protected] or mail them to Action Line, The Durango Herald, 1275 Main Ave., Durango, CO 81301. Today’s Fun Fact: Pickleball was invented in 1965 on Bainbridge Island, Washington, by Joel Pritchard, who later became a congressman and lieutenant governor of Washington. The game was named after the term “pickle boat” in crew, made up of leftover oarsmen, as the original game was made from a badminton net, pingpong paddles and a Wiffle ball. The original “pickle boat” referred to a boat pickling leftover fish from a fleet’s catch for the day. That pickleball might have been named after Mr. Pritchard’s dog “Pickles” is apparently a rural legend, as the dog postdated the naming of the game – the dog was named after the game, not vice versa.