A Pickleball Court for Mary Frances Keisling Park?

Come to City Council! This is what we do.

Mary Frances Keisling Park is undeveloped. The pb courts are currently slated to go on the middle left.

Fourteen months ago, a few dedicated souls started a journey toward getting a pickleball court built in Mary Frances Keisling Park, at 651 Gomez Road in the Upper Valley. Do you remember the Neighborhood Improvement Project (NIP)? Neighborhood Associations were invited to submit project requests, and a City committee scored the ideas and chose which to pass on for funding approval.

First challenge: There was no Neighborhood Association (NA) for MFK Park to submit the request. Undaunted, Jim Rolph (PEPA Treasurer) and Anita Tennie (member) first created an NA, and then Jim slogged through the 14 month process of submitting a proposal.

The pickleball court proposal was selected by the Committee, and has been forwarded to City Council for funding approval!

City Hall, 300 N. Campbell

Come to City Hall on Tuesday, August 19. The meeting starts at 9:00 AM with the Pledge, Invocation, usually dedications to different groups, and then Call to the Public at 10AM. Please sign up to speak for our court OR attend to show support. Wear your blue club pickleball shirt if you have one, or a blue shirt - it gets their attention. You can speak during Call to the Public at 10AM or when the agenda item comes up, if you choose. The agenda will not be released until August 14th after 12:00. I will post our agenda item number on our home page on August 14th.

Congratulations to Jim and Anita - you got us to the finals!

Thank you for donating your time to our community.

NIP Recommendation for Mary Frances Keisling Neighborhood Association:

FULL FUND OF PROJECT REQUEST  

Everything that was deemed feasible in your application is being recommended for award.   

• PICKLEBALL COURT & FENCE

National Senior Games 2025, Des Moines, IA

Paula Kesner and Bonnie Little

Thirty-five teams from all over the US competed in the Women's Doubles, 4.0 level, 60-64 age division. Congratulations to Paula Kesner and Bonnie Little on their fifth place finish! One of the teams they lost to won the division.

Announcements:

• Pavo Real has changed pickleball hours to accommodate leagues - check the Where to Play page.

  
  

• I have been out-of-commission with an injury and missed the unveiling of new lights at Don Haskins.  They are brilliant! If you have a news item to report please email the Association at pickleballEP@gmail.com

New lights at Don Haskins

Largest three-court clinic ever!

At least it was for us. We had 47 people show up to the beginner's clinic held at Galatzan on July 30. I had the manager of a tennis facility tell me that pickleball was on its way out; paddle ball was the new thing. 47 people, I'm just saying.🤣

Largest beginner clinic held on three courts - 47 participants!

From Empower Pickleball -Action

The rise of the rec game

According to the Sports and Fitness Industry Association (SFIA), pickleball participation has jumped 233% in three years. Young adults now make up the largest group of players, with 2.3 million in the 25–35 range. While some of that is post-grad, plenty of students are picking up paddles between classes, club meetings, and late-night study sessions.

This makes sense - meeting people when you go to college is a challenge.

Play happy,

Jamie Fisher

President, Pickleball El Paso Association