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.
Local
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.
