Members of the Northern Chautauqua Pickleball Association attended a recent village board meeting to thank the village for painting pickleball lines on one of the tennis courts at Russell Joy Park. The group urged officials to continue adding lines to other courts as planned to accommodate the large number of people interested in playing pickleball.

“This is being added to tennis courts and sports facilities across the country; on a national level, this is the fastest-growing sport in America,” Fredonia resident, pickleball association member and Chautauqua County executive hopeful Mike Ferguson stated.

“When you look at the markings of a high school basketball court, seven different sports markings are on those courts. And having been to (basketball games) … I haven’t seen an athlete run out of bounds yet because they were confused by the line.”

Ferguson added the association is not asking for any sport to “move on”; he pointed to the fact there are 16 tennis courts in the Fredonia area and only one pickleball court now.

OBSERVER Photo by Greg Fox. Northern Chautauqua Pickleball Association member Mike Ferguson — standing with other association members — asks the Fredonia Village Board to continue painting pickleball lines on the tennis courts at Russell Joy Park during a recent board meeting. Pictured standing on the left is Emily Ivey, a Chautauqua Tennis Club member, who asked the board to keep one tennis court free of pickleball lines to avoid confusion.

More than 130 people have begun to play pickleball over the last several weeks, while only 13 people played tennis side by side with them, Ferguson asserted.

“Unfortunately — I am a tennis player myself and we have several other pickleball players who are tennis players — it’s just the nature of the beast,” he told the board. “We’re not asking to move courts and we’re not asking to take courts away from folks. We had put down a plan for eight courts. In fact, we saved the village almost $1,000 in paint by being able to use the marking paint that is used for the street. This is a process and procedure that’s being used across the country.”

Fredonia resident and Chautauqua Tennis Club member Emily Ivey spoke after Ferguson. She asked the board to keep one of the tennis courts free of pickleball lines.

“I had the unfortunate opportunity of trying to play on a tennis court with pickleball lines and it’s practically impossible to know what you’re doing,” she pointed out. “It’s very confusing and I just think it’s fair to leave. I understand the problem it’ll have for a lot of people and I’m really sorry about that, but I think that the park should have a basketball court, a tennis court and a pickleball court available for people.”

Mayor Athanasia Landis addressed the issue by saying she believes everybody should have the opportunity to play. She commented that part of the problem seems to lie with the fact the lines are yellow and thick, thus they are not following pickleball standards (light blue and 2.5 inches wide).

“I think we should all be able, and you (Ferguson and Ivey) should be able to resolve this issue between you,” Landis said. “It’s great that you play, everybody gets exercise, but we’re all taxpayers and we should all be allowed to play.”

Fredonia-Pomfret Recreation Director Thomas Battaglia relayed he would work with the Department of Public Works to change the color of the lines, which he clarified were painted with asphalt paint. He also addressed Ivey’s remarks.

“This is going to become a multi-use facility because of the demand for play,” he stressed. “I know it’s going to be tough, but you’re going to have to be used to different lines. I wish I could put in a separate pickleball court. I cannot. The budget I work with, coming into this year, just for my supplies for kids in the program — due to the fact that we have infrastructure issues — I’m not going to get money to put in a separate pickleball court. I have to stretch my budget to get everybody a chance to use that park.”

Earlier this year, Ferguson and the pickleball association asked the village to consider putting pickleball lines on the tennis and basketball courts at Russell Joy Park. The village board deferred the issue to the parks and recreation commission, which voted to put the lines in.

“The pickleball folks are the ones that are going to have to move,” Battaglia added. “They have to deal with other lines, too. We will examine, yes, a different color, no problem; the next lines will be thinner, yes, no problem, but it’s going to be something that everybody’s got (to get used to).

“I want the park to be busy. We all want the park to be busy; it creates less problems. We hear the stories about the heroin epidemic around here, where if we have an abandoned park, that is going to be a place where bad things happen. The more people there using it, the better. That’s why we’re going to move forward (with adding pickleball lines).”

Trustee Douglas Essek agreed there should be multi-use facilities. He added everyone just needs to come together and share.

Ivey noted the changed lines will help curtail the confusion.

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