Pickleball Coming to New Concord
NEW CONCORD, Ohio – Many rural residents have to drive to surrounding larger communities to participate in modern recreational experiences.
One such example is finding public pickleball courts. But residents in the Village of New Concord will be saved from the commute thanks to the efforts from the students of three Ohio University Regional Campuses.
Retired OUZ Instructor Kathy Normansell discussed how the capstone project for the Sport and Lifestyle Studies class obtained a $2,000 grant from the Robert E. and Leona L. Fellers Foundation Trust to repurpose one of New Concord Elementary Park’s basketball courts to accommodate two pickleball courts.
“The major is for kids wanting to do anything in recreation, to fitness, to coaching. A lot of different areas they go out to, so for the capstone class we always choose a service learning project. And I’ve been involved with NCAARD since it first started. I live in this area, my heart’s here. The students are from Lancaster Campus, Zanesville Campus, Eastern Campus, so this is kind of a central. So as a service learning project, I said let’s write a grant that will benefit NCAARD,” Normansell said.
New Concord Area Arts and Recreation District Director Mary Beth Caudill explained how portable nets and surplus road paint will be used to mark an existing outdoor basketball court to accommodate the pickleballers without alienating the basketball players.
“We have just talked to Chris Huebner, our Village Administrator Interim and he’s working with the street guys,” Caudill said. “We are looking this month to get this implemented. They’re just trying to put it in their work schedule so that in June, before the Fireman’s Festival, they say we should have some courts ready to play. We’re not taking away basketball, we’re adding pickleball. So I think that’s going to be a key here, you know, so that everyone can enjoy. We could even have a pickleball game going on and half court basketball at the same time.”
Pickleball is rapidly becoming popular with Americans of all ages. It is often described as a sport much like tennis that uses ping pong like paddles to hit a wiffleball across a net but with much less running.
