It's safe to say that pickleball's status as a "fad" has come and gone, as the sport has become a national phenomenon in recent years with thousands of people playing across the country.
So in an effort to keep up with the times, Fitlife Sportsplex in McComb has announced plans to construct four pickleball courts at its facility.
The pickleball courts will follow the same rules as Fitlife's tennis courts, with them being open from 5 a.m. to 10 p.m. every day of the week.
Interested individuals will be able to make reservations, but they will likely be in 30-minute increments due to the pace of the game. On-site tennis pro Dean Clower and his wife will Robin will handle everything when it comes to reservations.
"Doing reservations will be tricky at times," Fitlife Director Jerry Ivey said. "But I've heard that a lot of facilities just let people come wait for courts, and some people will just end up rotating and doing tag-teams."
A completion date for the construction of the courts is still to be determined.
Ivey anticipates that the courts will be busy early and often, and he and Clower have even discussed hosting an opening tournament when the playing surfaces are ready.
"I really expect them [the courts] to be popular, because I was waiting for about 2-3 years to see if the sport would just be a fad, but we decided now that it's probably here to stay," Ivey said. "I played tennis my whole life and have never played pickleball, and so now I think I'm ready to try it."
