Fort Oglethorpe opening new pickleball courts

FORT OGLETHORPE, GA. (WDEF) – Not long ago, the word pickleball elicited a lot of confused and amused expressions on people’s faces. Many asked, “What’s pickleball? Is that a real sport?”

It’s real. And recently, the pickleball craze has reached Catoosa County.

So, what is pickleball? In a nutshell, it’s similar to badminton, ping pong and tennis. It’s played on a court and uses paddles and a ball.

But pickleball is different from these other games, too. The paddles are bigger than ping pong paddles, as are the balls, are like wiffle balls with plastic with holes in them.

Many players go so far as to buy special pickleball shoes. Fort Oglethorpe is in the process of opening 12 outdoor courts at Gilbert-Stephenson Park, that should be open at the end of March.

“These are our pickleball courts, this is our court complex. We have 12 pickleball courts and two tennis courts over to the left. We think that they are beautiful, and we have had so much interest from the public about starting leagues and starting tournaments. Just wanting to get out there and play. These courts were completed with the help of capital improvements like SPLOST funding,” Molly Huhn, city of Fort Oglethorpe spokesperson said.

One of the sports appeals is its popularity with older as well as younger generations.

With players in their 80s participating. In Washington state, pickleball is now the official state sport.

It’s not an Olympic sport yet, but that day seems to be on the horizon.