Pickleball mania has gripped Salisbury, and here's where you can get in on all the fun

Pickleball has become one of America's fastest growing sports in recent years, and the growth of the sport on Maryland's Eastern Shore mirrors the rest of the country. And for Wicomico County, an investment in the sport by the county will give local players a new and improved place to play the game they love.

On May 30, a ribbon-cutting ceremony was held at Harmon Field in Salisbury, where 12 new pickleball courts were unveiled. The event was filled with eager community members who showed up to check out the new playing surfaces for the sport, and as soon as the ribbon was cut, each court was filled with players competing against one another.

The new pickleball courts, named "The Courts at Harmon Field," come with lights to play whenever people would like to, even at night. And it is another step in the revitalization of the Harmon Field area, with two new basketball courts and a playground right next to the pickleball courts in the area next to the YMCA.

The people who worked with Wicomico's Recreation and Parks team to bring these pickleball courts to fruition recognized the sport would grow organically in the local community, and saw enthusiasm for this new idea as soon as it was introduced.

"It probably started about a year and a half, two years ago," Wicomico Recreation and Parks Director Steve Miller said in an interview at the court's debut last week. "It started as a conversation with our staff. We knew pickleball was getting popular, and we knew we needed to meet that demand."

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The fields previously were not being used that often, leading the Recreation and Parks team to connect with the YMCA. And the project started in October, with hopes that the basketball and pickleball courts could turn the area into an opening for the community to play the sports they love in a new and fresh recreational facility.

It was easy for the county to notice the growing interest in the sport, as they saw pickleball players competing all over their facilities. Most of the time they weren't even playing on pickleball courts, showing just how committed people were to playing no matter what the potential obstacles were.

"We saw it everyday when pickleballers were all over our tennis courts all over the county, all of the basketball courts. They were everywhere," Miller said. "And we just didn't have a place to put them, on their own facility. So we've known for several years that this has been a need. So to see it come together is pretty exciting.

Pickleball enthusiasts embrace new place to play

For some of the pickleball players who attended the opening last week, the new courts specifically for pickleball were a welcome sight. After having to come up with makeshift ways to play the sport, now there was an environment specifically for them.

"I was really excited. Because of the lack of actual places to play with nets, people had to invest in nets so they just couldn't play in a lot of places," pickleball player McKayla Keith said. "So it was exciting to come out and actually play with nets.

"It gave opportunity so people who couldn't play before could play now... We were playing on tennis courts, WinterPlace, driveways. So now that we have places to play with nets, I feel like it will help increase the sport in the area."

Brenda Stephens of Pocomoke has been playing the sport that she calls "the new tennis" for about eight years now, and was excited to have more places to play it.

"I'm from Pocomoke, so we play in Pocomoke. We have a couple places that we play there, and also on Chincoteague," Stephens said. "But I want to play up here too, so these are great."

Along with the benefits for local pickleball players, the new courts also bring with it the potential to attract pickleball players from all around. From Sept. 6-10, the Harmon Field Courts are set to host the USA Pickleball Mid-Atlantic Division Amateur Regionals.