The City of San Marcos unveiled a unique place to play this week: a new park, complete with the community’s first dedicated courts for outdoor pickleball.
Innovation Park – which took less than one year to build – is located 1151 Armorlite Dr. The 1-acre park features a playground, a dog run area, a picnic zone, a boulder play area, a shade structure, a restroom, a retail plaza and pickleball courts.
"Innovation Park will bring the city's first outdoor courts dedicated to the sport of pickleball," said Community Services Director Buck Martin in a press release. "It's wonderful to add another important park that makes the quality of life better here in our great city."
Community leaders planned a 5 p.m. dedication ceremony for the park Thursday. The free event, open to the public, included pickleball demonstrations.
According to the USA Pickleball Association, pickleball is a paddle sport that combines many elements of tennis, badminton, and ping-pong. It is played both indoors and outdoors on a badminton-sized court with a slightly-modified tennis net, with a plastic ball with holes. It can be played as doubles or singles.
Sarah Macdonald, a communications officer for the City of San Marcos, told NBC 7 pickleball is a popular sport in San Marcos. Avid players are looking forward to having dedicated courts for the sport.
In fact, Macdonald said San Marcos residents have organized a pickleball tournament this weekend at Innovation Park to break in the new courts.
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With more than three dozen parks, San Marcos is known as “a place to play.” The pickleball courts and new park add to the recreation-friendly lineup, Martin said.