Grab your paddle. More pickleball courts are coming to North Myrtle Beach
America’s fastest growing sport will be given more room to grow in North Myrtle Beach.
The city council passed its 2024 budget Wednesday afternoon, which includes $1 million to build between six to 10 new pickleball courts.
Ten courts are already available to the public, and those are located at the J Bryan Floyd Community Center.
The new courts will replace the T-ball field across Possum Trot Road from the J Bryan Floyd Community Center, according to city spokesperson Ryan Fabbri.
Pickleball is a sport similar to tennis, except paddles and plastic balls are used rather than rackets and small tennis balls. Also, players stand closer to the net. Pickleball can be played between two or four people.
There is an estimated 36.5 million Americans who play pickleball in the United States, according to Pickleheads.
“That is, if nothing else, a testament that if the residents and the people demand something to be done just based out of the sheer need for it or the popularity of something, it can happen,” Fabbri said.
The Pickleball Association in North Myrtle Beach has been fundraising for this project alongside the city. The Sun News previously reported that by September 2022, the Pickleball Association had raised $60,000 of its $250,000 goal.
The city said in its budget agenda that it hopes to “complete all design work and permitting for 6-10 court pickleball complex in order to solicit bids by March 2024.”
