The pickleball courts at Butler’s Ritts Park were packed the other day. When our Butler Eagle photographer stopped by recently, he found courts full of people with paddles in hand playing a game that players say is fun for all ages.

The courts were freshly repainted and the nets restrung for players to enjoy.

Just to the south, in Adams Township, another four pickleball courts opened this past week. When one of our reporters stopped by, those courts, too, were busy.

People like pickleball. It’s clear. And because people like the sport, it’s great to see local municipalities investing in it. This is what our parks are for — to bring people together.

Jackie Bullman, who can be found at the Butler courts, had nothing but positive things to say about the sport in a recent story.

“The retired people would say pickleball has made the biggest difference in their lives,” she said. “A paddle and a ball is all you need.”

According to the Sports and Fitness Industry Association, pickleball participation grew to 4.8 million United States players in 2021. That number is up 14.8% from 2020 and increased by 21.3% between 2019 and 2020, the same report said.

The average annual growth has been 11.5% over the past five years.

That’s worth some attention, and we’re happy to see a number of local municipalities taking notice of the trend — and taking action because of it.

In a February 2022 article by NPR, the group called USA Pickleball says places to play are limited. There were only 10,000 places to play in the country, the group said.

Of those places, there are quite a few in Butler County.

In Cranberry Township, Cranberry Township Pickleball Association, a program of the Cranberry Parks and Recreation Department, recently was requesting bids for an inflatable pickleball dome that would cover five to eight new courts for the paddle sport in Graham Park.

It would provide a year-round place to play the game.

Middlesex Township is also investing in pickleball. Supervisors approved a renovation project last month to bring the courts to the Middlesex Township Community Park. Pickleball lines were to be painted on the existing tennis courts.

If pickleball is what people want, we say give it to them. This is what our parks were made for. It’s great to see the recreational spots used for the enjoyment of residents.

— TL