Natick’s pickleball community made a strong showing Tuesday night at the Cole Center to discuss scheduling, courts, and etiquette with the town’s Recreation & Parks Department and Commission. More than 60 people attended the standing room only event, which smartly was scheduled on a day when the town’s outdoor pickleball courts—at Connor Heffler Park— are dedicated to a sport I believe was called “tennis.”

Rec & Parks Director Travis Farley shared an update with players, then fielded dozens of questions and comments, which came pop-pop-pop from all angles of the room. The increasingly popular paddle sport was a blessing to many who sought something active to do during the pandemic and others who enjoy the social aspect of pickleball or the competition. While many who play are beyond their glory days in other sports, pickleball has caught on with younger people as well.

Farley started off discussing the town’s decision to ditch an online scheduling app called PlayTime, which wasn’t satisfying the town or players, amidst complaints of out-of-towners hogging up court time and some not making newer players feel welcome. Among other things, the app provided the town no way to communicate with the community, such as when windscreens were added to the Heffler Park courts or when courts might be closed.

“We have a really good resident base of people who have pickleball networks. But all the messaging is done third-party, not through the Rec department, which is frustrating. I’d love to get messaging out to the pickleball community and I really can’t do that right now….,” Farley said.

The town has formed a working group, which has been taking public input from dozens of people and has been researching different approaches to meeting pickleball demand by other communities.

“This is a problem that every community is dealing with, this isn’t unique to Natick,” Farley said, adding that other communities have also moved away from PlayTime, but are each handling the situation differently. The Rec department would have liked to get this sorted out over the winter, but it’s been a challenge: “Pickleball has taken up a good chunk of my time trying to figure out a solution that works for everybody. This isn’t a topic we take lightly,” Farley said.

 

Ideally, Rec & Parks would like a tool that helps it collect data on court demand to help it make decisions about playing hours and the possible need for more indoor and outdoor courts. “That’s concrete data that might help me advocate for pickleball in Natick own the line,” Farley said.

One resident said plenty of anecdotal evidence has been collected over the past few years that can steer the town’s direction on this. “I think pickleball has really been underserved by the town in general,” he said, expressing frustration that various departments in Natick haven’t been able to coordinate more quickly to come up with solutions. He acknowledged that turnover at the Rec Department hasn’t helped, and that Farley, who joined the town last fall, has had to play catch up.

The town might look initially at limiting use of a new tool to residents. Natick’s considering an app called Pickle Planner, which would provide a system for players to schedule time to get together and play, but wouldn’t technically allow court reservations. Players use scheduling tools like TeamReach to connect with friends, but also to sync up with players of similar skill levels. Farley said he hopes to encourage those using TeamReach to gravitate to whatever the town winds up using.

---

• Got something to say about pickleball? Comment on the post or email us at natickreport@gmail.com
• Support our independent journalism venture
• Partner with us as an advertiser to reach our fast-growing audience

---

Numerous suggestions to address concerns and improve the pickleball experience in town were suggested by attendees, some of whom said players are largely self-policing, though there are some bad sports to deal with. Overall, the crowd seemed filled with pleasant people, some preaching patience and kindness, especially with newbies streaming into the sport.

Ideas volleyed:

• Offering separate times for round-robin and bring-your-own-groups play once more courts or court time becomes available
• Creating an association that would collect fees and pay for court monitors to keep things under control, or come up with a volunteer monitoring system (Farley said he’s hoping to keep pickleball on public courts free, at least for Natick residents)
• Divvying court times by skill levels
• Looking to gain access to the high school tennis courts, such as for summer and weekend play
• Exploring courts at other schools, such as Memorial Elementary School (Farley noted that it’s unclear what the future of that court might be in light of which way the town goes on rebuilding or renovating the school.)
• Dedicating Heffler Park courts to pickleball 7 days a week, shifting tennis to the high school (currently, it’s pickleball 5 days at week at Heffler Park, tennis 2 days). Sounds like this might be on the next Rec & Parks Commission agenda.
• Considering the disintegrating basketball courts near the dam in South Natick for pickleball, one day perhaps replacing the soothing sound of the spillway with… pickleball paddling

One Rec & Parks Department challenge is that it can’t make decisions overnight without taking formal steps through its regular meetings (tennis players or neighbors might want to have their say…Farley described a call from a tennis player who felt bullied by pickleball players) and by coordinating with the school system. Farley said he hopes to have a new app in action within a week or 2 of the next Recreation & Parks Commission meeting, slated to happen in early May.

The Rec & Parks Department plans to have another public meeting in July, then also see how things are going by year-end.

Information on town summer programming, including pickleball, should be out shortly.

More: Natick to talk pickleball scheduling

 

The main event in Natick on Tuesday may be opening night for Town Meeting (7:30pm at the high school), but the undercard action at the Cole Center (6-7pm) could be the livelier of the two: Natick Recreation and Parks has scheduled an open meeting on pickleball scheduling.

The stated focus of the Rec meeting is to “engage the community on a scheduling method moving forward at Connor Heffler Park for Pickleball.” Recreation and Parks Director Travis Farley says the town is trying to be pro-active on this.

We won’t be surprised if the meeting includes a wider ranging discussion about the sport, as demand for courts is outstripping supply in Natick and elsewhere. For those who cannot attend, you can message Farley at tfarley@natickma.org with questions or concerns.

 

Outdoor court space is particularly limited in Natick, where Heffler Park is the primary venue for pickleball. Natick has spelled out hours at the 6 Heffler Park pickleball courts to give tennis players a chance to get their games in, too.

Now the town is hosting an open meeting to discuss a new scheduling method. Other communities use an app called PlayLocal for court scheduling.

The popular paddle sport is also played indoors, including at venues such as the Longfellow Health Club and Natick Community-Senior Center. But with the weather getting nicer, demand for outdoor play will rise.

 

Natick’s Doug Steinberg, an accomplished squash player and coach who transitioned to the “very socially distanced sport” of pickleball at the start of the pandemic, now tries to keep up with demand for pickleball lessons in Natick and beyond via his Paddle Up Pickleball School. Shortly after we spoke over the weekend, as an illustration of that demand, Steinberg messaged me that he had 24 adult players signed up for a clinic the next morning. “Nobody’s transitioning out of pickleball, they’re all transitioning into it,” he says, noting that the players he coaches are getting younger and younger, even starting in their 20’s.

Steinberg says some communities, including across Cape Cod, addressed the rise in pickleball popularity and rolled out dozens of dedicated courts. “The Cape got it early,” he says.

Figuring out how to schedule pickleball is challenging, Steinberg said, as people typically play doubles and usually want to go longer than 45 or 60 minutes. “The dilemma for pickleball now is court demand vs. court supply,” says Steinberg, who runs clinics for Natick Recreation & Parks. Steinberg expects a strong showing at the Natick pickleball meeting.

A related dilemma for pickleball in some communities is the battle between pickleball players and neighbors who don’t want to hear the pop-pop-pop of the ball or the chatter among players. Wellesley’s Recreation Commission has been trying to address this issue, and will deliver an update on next steps at a meeting later this week.

Steinberg said during a Wellesley Recreation Commission meeting earlier this year that the people around Heffler Park in Natick play pickleball, so seem not to be as impacted by the sound.  “It’s an inviting sound when you’re used to playing,” he told us.

Disclaimer: We’ve owned a pickleball set since Christmas, but it has remained in the box… Peer pressure is building though.

---

• Got something to say about pickleball? Comment on the post or email us at natickreport@gmail.com
• Support our independent journalism venture
• Partner with us as an advertiser to reach our fast-growing audience