I have been a tennis player for almost 20 years and getting back to playing tennis again. I love tennis as its good exercise and instills comrade with others. We do not have much tennis courts so you have to wait your turn to get on the courts which is fair,Therefore,the wait can be very long A major concern is the noise the pickle ball makes when it bounces and therefore, distracts those playing tennis on the other courts. That is why pickle courts should not be mingled with tennis courts. Leave the tennis courts alone please and find other places for pickle ball.
As a long time avid tennis player I am opposed to changing tennis courts to pickle ball. The tennis court usage i(makawao and Hailemaile) is low due to poor conditions, not interest. If money was spent to make these courts playable, they would be highly utilized
Please do not convert this court into a pickle ball court. There are so many options for people who wish to play pickle ball and this is one of the last public option for Tennis. It would be such a shame to take away really the only court on this side of the island where our kids can play tennis on a nice court without distractions or have to pay to play. Tennis needs its own court for our kids an to practice for school matches & tournaments. Pickle ball does not need this.
Please please please do not convert this court it would be such a disappointment to so many people and families.
Please allow my support for additional picketball courts. As you know, there a numerous tennis courts and over the last 2 years I have only seen 2 courts in use for tennis. We picketball players, usually at 30 plus players are always waiting for the 4 courts to open up for play. We look forward to your consideration for expanding courts for the fastest growing sport in the USA. Mahalo. Bob and Linda Goodmanson, 20 Aekai Place, Lahaina.
Please do not let Pickle Ball take over the tennis courts. Pickle ball is loud and should be played away from any tennis courts. The lines also interfere with tennis court lines making it impossible to tell which is which.
If there is a demand for Pickle Ball courts. Build more pickle ball courts. There in not enough tennis courts already.
I am writing in to advocate for the needs of the established sport of tennis, which remains a popular recreational activity in our community.
Tennis is an excellent avenue for social interaction, mental well-being and focus, and as a physical workout. There is a bit of a learning curve, and you will get a lot of active and dedicated players who really value proper and well-maintained facilities and gear (e.g., non-damaged court surfaces, clear lines, net in good condition and proper height, non-noisy environment, lack of debris on courts, etc.). This is why tennis courts have always been and should be dedicated for the sport and not shared with other sports that have different requirements. Fortunately for the new sport of pickleball, they require a much smaller area and portable equipment (nets, lines, etc.) even seems to work well, for playing on any hard surface.
Especially as Maui's population continues to grow, the demand for tennis courts has grown as well. It is not unusual to find oneself waiting up to a hour for a court and sometime even leaving unsuccessful with daylight hours gone. This is especially the case during peak periods, such as evenings since people work or it’s too hot during the day. It has been particularly bad during this past year with COVID restrictions, leading to a petition to our government to address this issue and at least keep the courts open longer (ref: https://tinyurl.com/maui-tennis-petition, and attached). And it has gotten clearly worse with pickleball players taking over many of the limited tennis courts.
I would love more tennis courts built on Maui, which would also encourage more players who are otherwise turned off by not-uncommon congestion and the lack of availability of the courts. However, until then, I strongly urge to certainly not make the problem worse by diverting limited tennis courts or resources to other sports, although I would not be opposed to my taxpayer dollars also funding pickleball and other sport facilities.
As a regular tennis player at the War Memorial courts, it is sometimes stressful finding an open court or being kicked off a court. More recently, 2 of the 4 courts regularly have taped lines for pickleball all over them, making it a mess for use by tennis players. I do not disagree that pickleball is popular, but I look forward to the day hopefully soon when pickleball players have dedicated courts elsewhere, just like there are for basketball and other sports.
By the way, there is one group of pickleball players at War Memorial who bring their own portable net & lines and set up on half of the tennis practice wall/court. While still not ideal (noisy, and takes up the practice court), this is more acceptable in the near term, and it reflects how relatively easy it is to setup a court anywhere there is a flat hard surface.
Thank you in advance for your continued support of the tennis community, and I strongly urge the County to not go backwards with supporting the needs of tennis by diverting to other sports. Conversely, I ask the County to increase funding for the maintenance and installation of tennis courts, in addition to tennis programs (e.g., tennis clinics).
Aloha and thank you for the opportunity to share some observations regarding the explosive growth of Pickleball on Maui. My name is Greg Smith. I am one of the Maui Pickleball Ambassadors. Our goal is to increase the awareness of the public about this great game with a crazy name. If money was no object, I would urge the county to build a suite of new Pickleball Courts. As am example, Naples, FL. has a population of 21,812 and has 87 Public Pickleball courts. The Mexican town of Los Barriles in Mexico has a population of less than 5000 people and they have 10 premium courts. The list goes on. Thanks to Kihei resident Sam Martone, the Kihei Waipuilani courts during the first 18 days of October,2019 between 8:00AM and Noon, recorded 758 Pickleball players and 38 tennis players. That is not an uncommon ratio. We're all getting older. Pickleball is played on a court 1/3 the size of a tennis court and is much easier on the knees, hips, ankles, shoulders etc. It's a great way for seniors to get some exercise and have FUN while doing so. It is a very social sport as well as one offering exercise.
One final thought. I am quite sure, you will get plenty of "we need more pickleball requests from across the island " but I would like to add one suggestion. In 2019, the county had approved and budgeted $40,000.00 for new Pickleball courts right outside of the Eddie Tam Gymnasium. When we ambassadors learned of this from Billy Amoral (East Maui Manager), we strongly cautioned both he and Director Peters to avoid an expenditure of the county's precious funds to build Pickleball courts anywhere that would be exposed to the trade winds that blow 80% of the time. Billy shared with us that in an earlier attempt to block the wind that was impacting the one tennis court that is already at Eddie Tam, a wind screen was put in place. The trade winds blew down the wind screen AND the fence that held it up- twice. Building Pickleball courts there would have been a waste of county funds and would not have contributed to the Pickleball court shortage because the proposed courts would have been unusable 80% of the time due to the wind sensitive dynamics of the pickleball that is essentially a wiffleball and is sensitive to the wind.
All of this is to say, that a fiscally sound (low cost) first step could be to paint the Pickleball lines on a number of the tennis courts so they become dual use public facilities (the Pickleball community will bring their own portable nets), This would be a low cost immediate way to relieve the need for more pickleball venues that would be a great first step until you are able to fund some new Pickleball court construction. Converting established but little used tennis courts into Pickleball available usage makes a lot of sense. The courts are there, the fences are already there, the parking and rest rooms are already there. It becomes a matter of adjusting the management of the facilities to meet the current demand.
When you are able to build new Pickleball courts, please include a review with some experienced Pickleball players to assist you with the layout and a wind analysis of any proposed sites. I am sure you would agree that a phone call and quick inspection could save thousands of dollars and avoid a replay of the Eddie Tam wind screen event. By the way, the dual line, dual use solution has been in place at the War Memorial Tennis courts for a year and half without causing the sky to fall. Due to the dimensions of the Pickleball court vs. a tennis court the dual use lines do not interfere with the tennis play. Final thought, any of you council members that would like to explore this game are cordially invited to join us at anytime your schedule permits. If you ever played and enjoyed tennis, you will love pickleball.
Thank you for your consideration and thanks to Karla Peters, Mary, Angus, Jason and staff who do so much with limited funding.
Hi my name is Michele Low from Kahului. My pickleball journey started at the beginning of 2021 when a friend invited me to attend a lesson with her. By mid-February, a few friends, who also took a lesson, wanted to play. I discovered that there are ZERO true pickleball courts in Central Maui so I purchased my own pickleball net so that we could use the pickleball court, without a net, at War Memorial. We started playing one to two times a week and we were having so much fun. By April, I discovered people playing pickleball at War Memorial tennis courts 3 and 4 on Tuesday and Thursday nights from 5:00-7:45pm. The people there were so welcoming. We would stack paddles to play when the courts were full and would wait our turn once play finished. There would be around 1-2 stacks (of 4 paddles) waiting. If things got busy, someone would set up a court down below with their own net to extend the number of courts available. I was now playing 3 times a week. By May I had the bug to play more so I went down to Waipulani to check that venue out. I was also being invited to play on a private court up in Kula with friends, which I had to pay to play. Fast forward to now, I play pickleball 6 sometimes 7 days a week. The sport here on Maui has grown exponentially. Pickleball is the fastest growing sport in the US. There are new people joining the group play on Tuesdays and Thursdays at War Memorial every week. Last Thursday there were 5 stacks (of 4 paddles) deep with people waiting to play at War Memorial on the upper courts and 2 stacks deep on the lower “bring your own net court”. There were over 50 people who showed up to play during the dedicated 2 hour and 45 minutes of dedicated time that Parks and Rec has reserved for Pickleball at War Memorial. To address the increased demand, they started taping pickleball courts making 2 courts out of one tennis court. The pickleball community is resourceful just so they can play.
I have to travel out of Central Maui to play. I drive up to Kula to play on a private court 3 times a week. I drive down to Kihei to play at Waipulani once a week and over to Haiku once a week. I still play at War Memorial twice a week. It would be really nice if Maui County could provide dedicated pickleball courts in Central Maui so that I wouldn’t have to drive all over the island to play. There are so many people who share this same story due to the lack of pickleball courts. I have some friends that drive all the way up to Lahaina to play. In the few months that I have been playing I would estimate that the number of players has quadrupled. All the pickleball venues on Maui are becoming more crowded due to the lack of courts and lack of dedicated time by Parks and Rec to play on existing tennis courts or basketball court.
As part of my pickleball journey, I have met so many nice people who play this sport. This sport builds community. People of all ages are playing pickleball. I have met so many people who I now call my pickleball ohana. There are multigenerational families and extended families, friends, friends of friends that are all playing. The sport is growing faster than what facilities are available to play. All the locations are getting really crowded.
Please consider building out more dedicated pickleball courts and repairing existing courts on Maui. Central Maui, which has the largest population of people is in desperate need of real dedicated pickleball courts.
We need more pickleball courts. The demand is overwhelming because pickleball is a fun physical activity that is extremely social and inclusive.The courts can be built on available land, constructed on existing tennis courts if rarely used or designed for dual use on active tennis courts. The choice of the above options needs to based on the situation in each community. Some tennis courts are in such disrepair that tennis players do not play on them. This issue is solvable. Sam Martone, Kihei resident, 808 856 1367
Aloha. I would like to add my support for more and improved pickleball playing area throughout Maui County. Pickleball is a sport that has actually been around for a long time and is now experiencing explosive popularity and growth. It is suitable for enjoyment by almost all age groups, and especially seniors. Vacation visitors show up in great numbers to play as well. Let's put our financial resources to good use and "increase the playing fields". Thank you.
Michael Stettner, Waiehu
Aloha and thank you for the opportunity to share some observations regarding the explosive growth of Pickleball on Maui. My name is Greg Smith. I am one of the Maui Pickleball Ambassadors. Our goal is to increase the awareness of the public about this great game with a crazy name. If money was no object, I would urge the county to build a suite of new Pickleball Courts. As am example, Naples, FL. has a population of 21,812 and has 87 Public Pickleball courts. The Mexican town of Los Barriles in Mexico has a population of less than 5000 people and they have 10 premium courts. The list goes on. Thanks to Kihei resident Sam Martone, the Kihei Waipuilani courts during the first 18 days of October, between 8:00AM and Noon, recorded 758 Pickleball players and 38 tennis players. That is not an uncommon ratio. We're all getting older. Pickleball is played on a court 1/3 the size of a tennis court and is much easier on the knees, hips, ankles, shoulders etc. It's a great way for seniors to get some exercise and have FUN while doing so. It is a very social sport as well as one offering exercise.
One final thought. I am quite sure, you will get plenty of "we need more pickleball requests from across the island " but I would like to add one suggestion. In 2019, the county had approved and budgeted $40,000.00 for new courts right outside of the Eddie Tam Gymnasium. When we ambassadors learned of this from Billy Amoral (East Maui Manager), we strongly cautioned both he and Director Peters to avoid an expenditure of the county's precious funds to build Pickleball courts anywhere that would be exposed to the trade winds that blow 80% of the time. Billy shared with us that in an earlier attempt to block the wind that was impacting the one tennis court that is already at Eddie Tam, a wind screen was put in place. The trade winds blew down the wind screen AND the fence that held it up- twice. Building Pickleball courts there would have been a waste of county funds and would not have contributed to the Pickleball court shortage because the proposed courts would have been unusable due to the wind sensitive dynamics of the pickleball that is essentially a wiffleball.
All of this is to say, that a fiscally sound (low cost) first step would be to paint the Pickleball lines on a number of the tennis courts so they become dual use public facilities (the Pickleball community will bring their own portable nets), This would be a low cost way to relieve the need for more pickleball venues that would be a great first step until you are able to fund some new Pickleball court construction please.
When you do, please include a review with some experienced Pickleball players to assist you with the layout and a wind analysis of any proposed sites. I am sure you would agree that a phone call and quick inspection could save thousands of dollars and avoid a replay of the Eddie Tam wind screen event. By the way, this solution has been in place at the War Memorial Tennis courts for a year and half without causing the sky to fall. Due to the dimensions of the Pickleball court vs. a tennis court the dual use lines do not interfere with the tennis play.
Thank you for your consideration and thanks to Karla Peters, Mary, Angus, Jason and staff who do so much with limited funding.
Aloha Maui Council Human Concerns and Parks Committee Chair Kama,
I have been living Maui over 50 years, and have been actively playing tennis Upcounty for over 40 years. For the past 24 years I have been playing at our beautiful Kula Tennis Courts, with a large group of friends, regulars, and visitors that find this special tennis playground. We have a variety of regular groups that play throughout the week. Our Sunday morning drop in has been going on for over 22 years. It’s Seabury Hall’s home court, and USTA League matches have been played throughout the year. The County in the past has also sponsored lessons and activities. The Courts are busy often.
If we had two additional courts, (six total) as we have requested in the past, additional Leagues, and programming for all ages would be possible. I was active with a core group of players after the first two courts were built (1997) to work on two additional, with a master-plan concept for a final two courts with improvements. For over 10 years we worked towards getting support, funding, and finally construction of our two additional courts(2009). (four total). The County funded(2002) $80,000 for the masterplan design for this park, which was also to include real restrooms, and additional parking.
I also assisted for years with others to help maintain the courts with a County Parks partnership. There has been many years of work and support between the tennis communities and the County of Maui for the planning and development of these Kula tennis courts. With community work days we have done major cleanups of the overgrown areas of the park in the past. We constructed all the (10) benches, painted, and locked them down. Also, painted over extensive graffiti, often rehanging windscreens, and cleaning the courts for safe use every week.
The tennis community also supervises these courts for correct use, reporting non permitted park use, and reporting criminal activities. This is our park, we care for what we love.
To clarify, Kula has no Pickleball courts, except private ones. Maui Country Club has installed some, hopefully the County gyms will again offer many hours of time soon tp PB. Our tennis community currently is patient with pickleball players using two Kula Tennis Courts twice a week morning hours. This is with the understanding that it be without conflict, with taped lines, their own nets, and tennis play all other times has priority. This is considered temporary, and acceptable while they work on creating their own facility. All play should be by County Tennis Court use rules. Some PB players say the rules don’t apply to them. The signage of tennis court rules has been missing for two years, and still has not returned yet.
Bottom line is our Kula Tennis Community will never accept additional permanent lines, or mixing colors, on any of our four tennis courts. These are the only four playable public Tennis courts Upcountry.
We in the Kula tennis community reject the urbanization of our parks that crowd mixed uses into limited areas. Multi-use courts should not be used in rural settings. Sports like basketball and pickleball are not compatible played on opposite courts from tennis, the noise is unacceptable for tennis play. Pickleball could go alongside a skatepark, or basketball courts.Tennis players need to concentrate and focus with minimal distractions. Without confusing extra lines, or blocks of color. Compared it to golf, driving off the tee, and someone drops a club bag on your back swing. Hard paddle, hard plastic ball, hard court. Wack wack wack!! Two courts 4X’s the Wack. At the Kula Courts you can hear it in the parking lot 75 yards away. It also seems because of the noise of the equipment the players must be even louder with excitement.
Lorie Loney (pickleball Upcountry ambassador) and I talk now and then, I consider her a friend more than an adversary. I told her that her group needs to organize and work on creative ideas for their own pickleball facility. Like we have done for our tennis community. She asked how did you do that Steve? I told her it took years of attending budget meetings, giving testimony, petitions, community events, and care-taking of the park that we love, to prove ourselves worthy. I told her I will help her, we could get our sport communities to work together to support it. I told her it’s so easy to take something, it’s rewarding to create something for your sport, something for the community, something for the future. To allow permanently shared courts in Kula will disrupt our sport communities. There will be conflicts, if not today, tomorrow. Doing this would severely limit our ability to grow our two sports. Just to note the PB community has turned down the County's offer of funding and locations for their own stand alone facility.
The Upcountry tennis community presented a vision many times to our past mayors, and council members, over the years. Our representatives joined us in this vision for the future of tennis in Kula. This vision was for us seniors, our kids, and their kids. The future of our sport. Not just so we have courts to play on a Tuesday and Thursday like the pickle ball group. It was not a selfish vision, one we worked on for years, and continue to work on.
Please support and respect the hard work, and this vision, and not the mistake of a quick easy fix that will put our sports at odds. Both sports need room to expand and grow independently. We support the funding and creativity to find a home for pickleball. All they need is a flat paved area, any parking lot. You don’t need special drainage, don’t need a fence, don’t need to be facing in a certain direction with the sun. All the things a tennis court needs. Tennis players can only play on tennis courts. Pickleball is played anywhere, inside and outside. The Pickleball community needs to get to work for their own courts, less taking, more creating.
The conversion of tennis courts island wide so far has been approved and done without input from the tennis community. Past decisions were made in the back room with pickleball ambassadors working within the County Parks Department. Pickleball should have never been allowed on County Tennis Courts without a permit. It’s not an approved activity on a Maui public tennis court, although like hundreds of other non compatible sports it’s not listed as unapproved either.
There are rumors that our Kula Tennis Courts are slated for dedicated Pickleball use, and lines or colors painted on the courts. This would be a very sad day for our community, and a slap in the face to all in our community, and the County that has worked hard over the years to develop this park. The Kula Tennis Courts are not the usual County Tennis Courts, our Community has worked hard, over many years, to help make this dream come true.
Thanks much for listening, and all you do for our beautiful County.
My name is Brett lickle and I have lived on maui for 37 years. I am a tennis player and an avid Pickleball player. I travel to other states to compete in Pickleball tournaments. The sport of Pickleball is exploding. Everywhere tennis courts are being converted to pickle ball courts and Pickleball specific facilities some as large as 50 courts are being built .You can put four Pickleball courts on one tennis court.Remember we are just trying to share with the tennis community by painting the line you make the court multi sports friendly. On the island of maui we have 4 permanent courts in Kehei that need to be resurfaced and repainted.and could be expanded to 8 Pickleball specific courts for Pickleball only We have 4 courts at the Lahaina civic center that I'm sure could use little love. Then in Kahului we have two tennis courts that have painted lines for Pickleball that could be repainted to accommodate 4 courts.( 2 Pickleball courts on each tennis court). Then we have Kula which are MIL sanctioned courts so these are off limits, but still playable with tape and private nets. Then you have the haiku field house that has the potential to have up two four courts with painted lines with players bringing private nets, so not to interfere with the basketball players. Then there is a tennis court in Pukalani next to the pool that is pretty much unplayable that could be resurfaced and painted for four Pickleball specific courts. If this was done right I think we could pull players from kula haiku and Kahului and this would take some pressure off the tennis community. In a perfect world the county would build a Pickleball specific facility in Kahului or Kehei that would be used to draw international players and destination tournaments .Remember the Sport of Pickleball is the fastest growing sport in the Usa right now .Pickleball grew in 2020 to 4.2 million players in the us an incredible growth rate of 21.3% from 2019. Lets get on it maui and build some courts. Field of Dreams
We are in desperate need of additional pickleball courts on Maui, especially in the central district. In the attached pictures we had more players than we had courts to play on. We had a total of 6 courts set up (3 county nets and 3 we brought ourselves). There were still 25 people waiting to play! No matter where you go on the island pickleball courts are overloaded and there are lines waiting to play. This is a typical day for pickleball players. We scramble each day to find places to play our sport. The high school pickleball PE classes are forced to play on tennis courts with tennis nets. We don't ask our soccer players to play on football fields.....why do we have pickleball players playing on tennis courts?? Pickleball is growing faster than any other sport in the WORLD! We need your assistance to get additional courts ASAP. Please help.
P.S. First I tried to attach a pickleball video and it kicked it back saying "attachment is invalid". So then I tried to attach some still pictures and I got the same message. I will send you the pickleball video directly to your email inbox.
My name is Ann Pitcaithley, I am a former tennis player who has resided here for 32 years. I have played pickleball almost daily for the last 2.5 years. Durng the pandemic, it has provided a great source of fitness.and fun. Pickleball is recognized as the fastest growing sport in the US. It has definetely grown exponentially in Maui The demand for courts here has far outpaced the availability of public courts, resultng in crowds and long wait times .I frequently play at War Memorial in Wailuku where I live, and on a typical night, there are at least 30 people who show up. The situation is very urgent.and becomeing a crisis. The Mayor, Council and Parks and Recreation have received our petition which has 520 signatures.(change.org/pickleballmaui) The petiton describes the issue and outlines the requests from input by the Maui pickleball ambassadors. Akaku TV produced a video for us which they aired and is posted on youtube. (maui pickleball people youtube) Over the last year, I and many others have repeately appealed to Karla Peters , Director of Parks and Recreation department to address this issue. I almost always receive the same response, " We are actively assessing the situation." Other than opening the Eddie Tam gym in Makawao on Wednesday and Saturday mornings, I do not see any other changes. Unfortunately, the gym has been closed for nearly 2 years. This also does not provide a solution for a majority of players who live in central Maui where we ony have War Memorial tennis courts with shared lines reserved at the 2 upper courts for only 2 nights a week. There are a total of 14 tennis courts available in central Maui and some of these courts are underutilzed, although the ideal solution is to have our own designated pickleball courts.
As justiied by the massive growth of this sport in Maui and applying the principle of inclusion, we are entitled to greater access as other sports, We are all taxpayers.
This sport is changing, it is no longer just for Kupuna. We now have keikis playing. We are seeing a lot of former tennis players and a growing number of tourists who find courts in Maui on the places2playorg website. Pickleball courts are a relatively low financial investment. A single pickleball court is just one fourth the size of a tennis court, it is space saving and therefore more cost effective. Many pickleball players have their own portable nets which would then only require the space and permanent lines marked. . On Maui, it is now part of the physical education curriculum at Maui High School, Kalama Intermediate School and Carden Academy.The Maui YMCA is planning to install a court I recently saw Baldwin High School students playing pickleball at the War Memorial courts. There is a growing demand for pickleball leagues and tournaments .I suggest that the Parks and Recreation department provide a citizen's input group which is common and successful practice in the mainland. The community shoud have a voice. In the future, the Maui County budget should include appropriations for more pickleball courts.
Mahalo, Ann Pitcaithley 808 250-2280
My name is Laurie Loney. I was born here on Maui and have played pickleball (we call it pukaball) here since the late 60's. Now I am one of 4 Maui Ambassadors whose mission is trying to promote and facilitate this wonderful game. Recently this sport has taken off in popularity all over the world. I have seen it grow so fast on Maui it is crazy. The demand for public courts is overwhelming. We are mostly playing on tennis courts (a few of which have been converted to permanent, dedicated pickleball courts.) But the tennis players are not happy to share their courts. We really need dedicated pickleball only facilities everywhere on the island. We don't mind using tennis courts in the meantime but would prefer our own. The need is very great in central Maui. For such a large population, there are no dedicated. courts. Please consider this area soon.
Pickleball is a fun, social game which makes kapuna happy to be out and active, and is challenging enough for young players also. Since Covid I have seen the number of local players increase exponentially. This game has been very popular with visitors for years now but watch out - Maui residents are in love with it. I promise that the numbers will grow hugely.
Mahalo for your time and all you do for Maui's sports and activities. Please allocate funds in future budgets to accommodate pickleball courts.
I have been playing pickleball for approximately 2 years, starting just prior to the pandemic. I live upcountry and work in Wailuku. I started out playing in the Eddie Tam gym before it was shut down and now play at War Memorial on the designated Tues/Thurs evenings and at the Haiku Field House on Saturdays. In the 2 years I've been playing, the amount of people who play has grown significantly. At War Memorial, there are many evenings where I've experienced 30 or more people with very few tennis players. Although there are 2 designated pickleball courts up top and one court down below, the court below has no net and the nets above are tennis nets, not pickleball nets. It is fortunate we have folks who bring their own nets and have gotten very creative with expanding the amount of courts by taping them off for all of us to utilize. I am in support of the county expanding pickleball accessibility. This has become a very popular sport for all ages. It is my belief that pickleball players and tennis players can co-exist, but should have equal access to resources. Mahalo for your consideration of this matter.
When the pandemic forced many of us into isolation last year and living in the unknown, the routine ways for physical activity, socialization and well-being were greatly impacted for many of us. As a senior citizen living alone, "social distancing" meant more than being 6 feet apart from others, but creating new mental and physical health challenges. My normally healthy lifestyle was not the same anymore and finding ways to feel emotionally, physically and mentally well became difficult. Fortunately, there were zoom classes and virtual sessions as well as places to walk when the beaches and parks reopened.
However, doing activities alone affected my emotional/mental health and until we were vaccinated, there was always the constant fear of being infected. It was not until this year that I discovered a new outdoor activity that has changed my life, for the better! Through friends, I learned about Pickleball, a sport I had never heard of. With no experience in racquet ball type of sport, my main physical activities were walking, hiking and yoga. Pickleball offered exactly what I needed...being outdoors in fresh air, learning a new sport that forced me to use my brain in a different way, a fun aerobic exercise that really felt good and making new friends of all ages in a cordial environment. At age 72, I was amazed that I could learn a new sport that has helped me to feel healthier both physically and emotionally.
Pickleball is for all ages and as a senior citizen of Maui County, I can clearly see it is as a great avenue for everyone to learn something new, improve their overall health, while increasing opportunities for socialization and community engagement. In order to provide the increased popularity of Pickleball, Maui needs dedicated pickleball courts or at least clearly painted pickleball lines and nets. As a long-time Wailuku resident, it has been frustrating to use the War Memorial Tennis Courts with faded pickleball lines and old tennis nets. Some individuals own and bring their own Pickleball nets, but that is not feasible for most citizens. Also, days that Pickleball games are played at War Memorial, there are hardly any tennis players and many more people waiting to play Pickleball.
It is my sincere hope that the County of Maui will recognize the increased need for supporting the sport of Pickleball and providing the basic necessities for all peoples of Maui to learn, play and enjoy Pickleball. This is all for a better Maui!
I have been a tennis player for almost 20 years and getting back to playing tennis again. I love tennis as its good exercise and instills comrade with others. We do not have much tennis courts so you have to wait your turn to get on the courts which is fair,Therefore,the wait can be very long A major concern is the noise the pickle ball makes when it bounces and therefore, distracts those playing tennis on the other courts. That is why pickle courts should not be mingled with tennis courts. Leave the tennis courts alone please and find other places for pickle ball.
As a long time avid tennis player I am opposed to changing tennis courts to pickle ball. The tennis court usage i(makawao and Hailemaile) is low due to poor conditions, not interest. If money was spent to make these courts playable, they would be highly utilized
Please do not convert this court into a pickle ball court. There are so many options for people who wish to play pickle ball and this is one of the last public option for Tennis. It would be such a shame to take away really the only court on this side of the island where our kids can play tennis on a nice court without distractions or have to pay to play. Tennis needs its own court for our kids an to practice for school matches & tournaments. Pickle ball does not need this.
Please please please do not convert this court it would be such a disappointment to so many people and families.
Best!
Aysha Nitze
Please don't rob Peter to pay Paul.
Please allow my support for additional picketball courts. As you know, there a numerous tennis courts and over the last 2 years I have only seen 2 courts in use for tennis. We picketball players, usually at 30 plus players are always waiting for the 4 courts to open up for play. We look forward to your consideration for expanding courts for the fastest growing sport in the USA. Mahalo. Bob and Linda Goodmanson, 20 Aekai Place, Lahaina.
Please do not let Pickle Ball take over the tennis courts. Pickle ball is loud and should be played away from any tennis courts. The lines also interfere with tennis court lines making it impossible to tell which is which.
If there is a demand for Pickle Ball courts. Build more pickle ball courts. There in not enough tennis courts already.
Jody Boeringa
Aloha,
I am writing in to advocate for the needs of the established sport of tennis, which remains a popular recreational activity in our community.
Tennis is an excellent avenue for social interaction, mental well-being and focus, and as a physical workout. There is a bit of a learning curve, and you will get a lot of active and dedicated players who really value proper and well-maintained facilities and gear (e.g., non-damaged court surfaces, clear lines, net in good condition and proper height, non-noisy environment, lack of debris on courts, etc.). This is why tennis courts have always been and should be dedicated for the sport and not shared with other sports that have different requirements. Fortunately for the new sport of pickleball, they require a much smaller area and portable equipment (nets, lines, etc.) even seems to work well, for playing on any hard surface.
Especially as Maui's population continues to grow, the demand for tennis courts has grown as well. It is not unusual to find oneself waiting up to a hour for a court and sometime even leaving unsuccessful with daylight hours gone. This is especially the case during peak periods, such as evenings since people work or it’s too hot during the day. It has been particularly bad during this past year with COVID restrictions, leading to a petition to our government to address this issue and at least keep the courts open longer (ref: https://tinyurl.com/maui-tennis-petition, and attached). And it has gotten clearly worse with pickleball players taking over many of the limited tennis courts.
I would love more tennis courts built on Maui, which would also encourage more players who are otherwise turned off by not-uncommon congestion and the lack of availability of the courts. However, until then, I strongly urge to certainly not make the problem worse by diverting limited tennis courts or resources to other sports, although I would not be opposed to my taxpayer dollars also funding pickleball and other sport facilities.
As a regular tennis player at the War Memorial courts, it is sometimes stressful finding an open court or being kicked off a court. More recently, 2 of the 4 courts regularly have taped lines for pickleball all over them, making it a mess for use by tennis players. I do not disagree that pickleball is popular, but I look forward to the day hopefully soon when pickleball players have dedicated courts elsewhere, just like there are for basketball and other sports.
By the way, there is one group of pickleball players at War Memorial who bring their own portable net & lines and set up on half of the tennis practice wall/court. While still not ideal (noisy, and takes up the practice court), this is more acceptable in the near term, and it reflects how relatively easy it is to setup a court anywhere there is a flat hard surface.
Thank you in advance for your continued support of the tennis community, and I strongly urge the County to not go backwards with supporting the needs of tennis by diverting to other sports. Conversely, I ask the County to increase funding for the maintenance and installation of tennis courts, in addition to tennis programs (e.g., tennis clinics).
Mahalo,
Tyler, Kahului
Aloha and thank you for the opportunity to share some observations regarding the explosive growth of Pickleball on Maui. My name is Greg Smith. I am one of the Maui Pickleball Ambassadors. Our goal is to increase the awareness of the public about this great game with a crazy name. If money was no object, I would urge the county to build a suite of new Pickleball Courts. As am example, Naples, FL. has a population of 21,812 and has 87 Public Pickleball courts. The Mexican town of Los Barriles in Mexico has a population of less than 5000 people and they have 10 premium courts. The list goes on. Thanks to Kihei resident Sam Martone, the Kihei Waipuilani courts during the first 18 days of October,2019 between 8:00AM and Noon, recorded 758 Pickleball players and 38 tennis players. That is not an uncommon ratio. We're all getting older. Pickleball is played on a court 1/3 the size of a tennis court and is much easier on the knees, hips, ankles, shoulders etc. It's a great way for seniors to get some exercise and have FUN while doing so. It is a very social sport as well as one offering exercise.
One final thought. I am quite sure, you will get plenty of "we need more pickleball requests from across the island " but I would like to add one suggestion. In 2019, the county had approved and budgeted $40,000.00 for new Pickleball courts right outside of the Eddie Tam Gymnasium. When we ambassadors learned of this from Billy Amoral (East Maui Manager), we strongly cautioned both he and Director Peters to avoid an expenditure of the county's precious funds to build Pickleball courts anywhere that would be exposed to the trade winds that blow 80% of the time. Billy shared with us that in an earlier attempt to block the wind that was impacting the one tennis court that is already at Eddie Tam, a wind screen was put in place. The trade winds blew down the wind screen AND the fence that held it up- twice. Building Pickleball courts there would have been a waste of county funds and would not have contributed to the Pickleball court shortage because the proposed courts would have been unusable 80% of the time due to the wind sensitive dynamics of the pickleball that is essentially a wiffleball and is sensitive to the wind.
All of this is to say, that a fiscally sound (low cost) first step could be to paint the Pickleball lines on a number of the tennis courts so they become dual use public facilities (the Pickleball community will bring their own portable nets), This would be a low cost immediate way to relieve the need for more pickleball venues that would be a great first step until you are able to fund some new Pickleball court construction. Converting established but little used tennis courts into Pickleball available usage makes a lot of sense. The courts are there, the fences are already there, the parking and rest rooms are already there. It becomes a matter of adjusting the management of the facilities to meet the current demand.
When you are able to build new Pickleball courts, please include a review with some experienced Pickleball players to assist you with the layout and a wind analysis of any proposed sites. I am sure you would agree that a phone call and quick inspection could save thousands of dollars and avoid a replay of the Eddie Tam wind screen event. By the way, the dual line, dual use solution has been in place at the War Memorial Tennis courts for a year and half without causing the sky to fall. Due to the dimensions of the Pickleball court vs. a tennis court the dual use lines do not interfere with the tennis play. Final thought, any of you council members that would like to explore this game are cordially invited to join us at anytime your schedule permits. If you ever played and enjoyed tennis, you will love pickleball.
Thank you for your consideration and thanks to Karla Peters, Mary, Angus, Jason and staff who do so much with limited funding.
All the best,
Greg Smith 808 -633-6764
Hi my name is Michele Low from Kahului. My pickleball journey started at the beginning of 2021 when a friend invited me to attend a lesson with her. By mid-February, a few friends, who also took a lesson, wanted to play. I discovered that there are ZERO true pickleball courts in Central Maui so I purchased my own pickleball net so that we could use the pickleball court, without a net, at War Memorial. We started playing one to two times a week and we were having so much fun. By April, I discovered people playing pickleball at War Memorial tennis courts 3 and 4 on Tuesday and Thursday nights from 5:00-7:45pm. The people there were so welcoming. We would stack paddles to play when the courts were full and would wait our turn once play finished. There would be around 1-2 stacks (of 4 paddles) waiting. If things got busy, someone would set up a court down below with their own net to extend the number of courts available. I was now playing 3 times a week. By May I had the bug to play more so I went down to Waipulani to check that venue out. I was also being invited to play on a private court up in Kula with friends, which I had to pay to play. Fast forward to now, I play pickleball 6 sometimes 7 days a week. The sport here on Maui has grown exponentially. Pickleball is the fastest growing sport in the US. There are new people joining the group play on Tuesdays and Thursdays at War Memorial every week. Last Thursday there were 5 stacks (of 4 paddles) deep with people waiting to play at War Memorial on the upper courts and 2 stacks deep on the lower “bring your own net court”. There were over 50 people who showed up to play during the dedicated 2 hour and 45 minutes of dedicated time that Parks and Rec has reserved for Pickleball at War Memorial. To address the increased demand, they started taping pickleball courts making 2 courts out of one tennis court. The pickleball community is resourceful just so they can play.
I have to travel out of Central Maui to play. I drive up to Kula to play on a private court 3 times a week. I drive down to Kihei to play at Waipulani once a week and over to Haiku once a week. I still play at War Memorial twice a week. It would be really nice if Maui County could provide dedicated pickleball courts in Central Maui so that I wouldn’t have to drive all over the island to play. There are so many people who share this same story due to the lack of pickleball courts. I have some friends that drive all the way up to Lahaina to play. In the few months that I have been playing I would estimate that the number of players has quadrupled. All the pickleball venues on Maui are becoming more crowded due to the lack of courts and lack of dedicated time by Parks and Rec to play on existing tennis courts or basketball court.
As part of my pickleball journey, I have met so many nice people who play this sport. This sport builds community. People of all ages are playing pickleball. I have met so many people who I now call my pickleball ohana. There are multigenerational families and extended families, friends, friends of friends that are all playing. The sport is growing faster than what facilities are available to play. All the locations are getting really crowded.
Please consider building out more dedicated pickleball courts and repairing existing courts on Maui. Central Maui, which has the largest population of people is in desperate need of real dedicated pickleball courts.
We need more pickleball courts. The demand is overwhelming because pickleball is a fun physical activity that is extremely social and inclusive.The courts can be built on available land, constructed on existing tennis courts if rarely used or designed for dual use on active tennis courts. The choice of the above options needs to based on the situation in each community. Some tennis courts are in such disrepair that tennis players do not play on them. This issue is solvable. Sam Martone, Kihei resident, 808 856 1367
Aloha. I would like to add my support for more and improved pickleball playing area throughout Maui County. Pickleball is a sport that has actually been around for a long time and is now experiencing explosive popularity and growth. It is suitable for enjoyment by almost all age groups, and especially seniors. Vacation visitors show up in great numbers to play as well. Let's put our financial resources to good use and "increase the playing fields". Thank you.
Michael Stettner, Waiehu
Aloha and thank you for the opportunity to share some observations regarding the explosive growth of Pickleball on Maui. My name is Greg Smith. I am one of the Maui Pickleball Ambassadors. Our goal is to increase the awareness of the public about this great game with a crazy name. If money was no object, I would urge the county to build a suite of new Pickleball Courts. As am example, Naples, FL. has a population of 21,812 and has 87 Public Pickleball courts. The Mexican town of Los Barriles in Mexico has a population of less than 5000 people and they have 10 premium courts. The list goes on. Thanks to Kihei resident Sam Martone, the Kihei Waipuilani courts during the first 18 days of October, between 8:00AM and Noon, recorded 758 Pickleball players and 38 tennis players. That is not an uncommon ratio. We're all getting older. Pickleball is played on a court 1/3 the size of a tennis court and is much easier on the knees, hips, ankles, shoulders etc. It's a great way for seniors to get some exercise and have FUN while doing so. It is a very social sport as well as one offering exercise.
One final thought. I am quite sure, you will get plenty of "we need more pickleball requests from across the island " but I would like to add one suggestion. In 2019, the county had approved and budgeted $40,000.00 for new courts right outside of the Eddie Tam Gymnasium. When we ambassadors learned of this from Billy Amoral (East Maui Manager), we strongly cautioned both he and Director Peters to avoid an expenditure of the county's precious funds to build Pickleball courts anywhere that would be exposed to the trade winds that blow 80% of the time. Billy shared with us that in an earlier attempt to block the wind that was impacting the one tennis court that is already at Eddie Tam, a wind screen was put in place. The trade winds blew down the wind screen AND the fence that held it up- twice. Building Pickleball courts there would have been a waste of county funds and would not have contributed to the Pickleball court shortage because the proposed courts would have been unusable due to the wind sensitive dynamics of the pickleball that is essentially a wiffleball.
All of this is to say, that a fiscally sound (low cost) first step would be to paint the Pickleball lines on a number of the tennis courts so they become dual use public facilities (the Pickleball community will bring their own portable nets), This would be a low cost way to relieve the need for more pickleball venues that would be a great first step until you are able to fund some new Pickleball court construction please.
When you do, please include a review with some experienced Pickleball players to assist you with the layout and a wind analysis of any proposed sites. I am sure you would agree that a phone call and quick inspection could save thousands of dollars and avoid a replay of the Eddie Tam wind screen event. By the way, this solution has been in place at the War Memorial Tennis courts for a year and half without causing the sky to fall. Due to the dimensions of the Pickleball court vs. a tennis court the dual use lines do not interfere with the tennis play.
Thank you for your consideration and thanks to Karla Peters, Mary, Angus, Jason and staff who do so much with limited funding.
All the best,
Greg Smith 808 -633-6764
Aloha Maui Council Human Concerns and Parks Committee Chair Kama,
I have been living Maui over 50 years, and have been actively playing tennis Upcounty for over 40 years. For the past 24 years I have been playing at our beautiful Kula Tennis Courts, with a large group of friends, regulars, and visitors that find this special tennis playground. We have a variety of regular groups that play throughout the week. Our Sunday morning drop in has been going on for over 22 years. It’s Seabury Hall’s home court, and USTA League matches have been played throughout the year. The County in the past has also sponsored lessons and activities. The Courts are busy often.
If we had two additional courts, (six total) as we have requested in the past, additional Leagues, and programming for all ages would be possible. I was active with a core group of players after the first two courts were built (1997) to work on two additional, with a master-plan concept for a final two courts with improvements. For over 10 years we worked towards getting support, funding, and finally construction of our two additional courts(2009). (four total). The County funded(2002) $80,000 for the masterplan design for this park, which was also to include real restrooms, and additional parking.
I also assisted for years with others to help maintain the courts with a County Parks partnership. There has been many years of work and support between the tennis communities and the County of Maui for the planning and development of these Kula tennis courts. With community work days we have done major cleanups of the overgrown areas of the park in the past. We constructed all the (10) benches, painted, and locked them down. Also, painted over extensive graffiti, often rehanging windscreens, and cleaning the courts for safe use every week.
The tennis community also supervises these courts for correct use, reporting non permitted park use, and reporting criminal activities. This is our park, we care for what we love.
To clarify, Kula has no Pickleball courts, except private ones. Maui Country Club has installed some, hopefully the County gyms will again offer many hours of time soon tp PB. Our tennis community currently is patient with pickleball players using two Kula Tennis Courts twice a week morning hours. This is with the understanding that it be without conflict, with taped lines, their own nets, and tennis play all other times has priority. This is considered temporary, and acceptable while they work on creating their own facility. All play should be by County Tennis Court use rules. Some PB players say the rules don’t apply to them. The signage of tennis court rules has been missing for two years, and still has not returned yet.
Bottom line is our Kula Tennis Community will never accept additional permanent lines, or mixing colors, on any of our four tennis courts. These are the only four playable public Tennis courts Upcountry.
We in the Kula tennis community reject the urbanization of our parks that crowd mixed uses into limited areas. Multi-use courts should not be used in rural settings. Sports like basketball and pickleball are not compatible played on opposite courts from tennis, the noise is unacceptable for tennis play. Pickleball could go alongside a skatepark, or basketball courts.Tennis players need to concentrate and focus with minimal distractions. Without confusing extra lines, or blocks of color. Compared it to golf, driving off the tee, and someone drops a club bag on your back swing. Hard paddle, hard plastic ball, hard court. Wack wack wack!! Two courts 4X’s the Wack. At the Kula Courts you can hear it in the parking lot 75 yards away. It also seems because of the noise of the equipment the players must be even louder with excitement.
Lorie Loney (pickleball Upcountry ambassador) and I talk now and then, I consider her a friend more than an adversary. I told her that her group needs to organize and work on creative ideas for their own pickleball facility. Like we have done for our tennis community. She asked how did you do that Steve? I told her it took years of attending budget meetings, giving testimony, petitions, community events, and care-taking of the park that we love, to prove ourselves worthy. I told her I will help her, we could get our sport communities to work together to support it. I told her it’s so easy to take something, it’s rewarding to create something for your sport, something for the community, something for the future. To allow permanently shared courts in Kula will disrupt our sport communities. There will be conflicts, if not today, tomorrow. Doing this would severely limit our ability to grow our two sports. Just to note the PB community has turned down the County's offer of funding and locations for their own stand alone facility.
The Upcountry tennis community presented a vision many times to our past mayors, and council members, over the years. Our representatives joined us in this vision for the future of tennis in Kula. This vision was for us seniors, our kids, and their kids. The future of our sport. Not just so we have courts to play on a Tuesday and Thursday like the pickle ball group. It was not a selfish vision, one we worked on for years, and continue to work on.
Please support and respect the hard work, and this vision, and not the mistake of a quick easy fix that will put our sports at odds. Both sports need room to expand and grow independently. We support the funding and creativity to find a home for pickleball. All they need is a flat paved area, any parking lot. You don’t need special drainage, don’t need a fence, don’t need to be facing in a certain direction with the sun. All the things a tennis court needs. Tennis players can only play on tennis courts. Pickleball is played anywhere, inside and outside. The Pickleball community needs to get to work for their own courts, less taking, more creating.
The conversion of tennis courts island wide so far has been approved and done without input from the tennis community. Past decisions were made in the back room with pickleball ambassadors working within the County Parks Department. Pickleball should have never been allowed on County Tennis Courts without a permit. It’s not an approved activity on a Maui public tennis court, although like hundreds of other non compatible sports it’s not listed as unapproved either.
There are rumors that our Kula Tennis Courts are slated for dedicated Pickleball use, and lines or colors painted on the courts. This would be a very sad day for our community, and a slap in the face to all in our community, and the County that has worked hard over the years to develop this park. The Kula Tennis Courts are not the usual County Tennis Courts, our Community has worked hard, over many years, to help make this dream come true.
Thanks much for listening, and all you do for our beautiful County.
Brett lickle
17085 Haleakala hwy
kula 96790
808-268-3381
lickles@mac.com
My name is Brett lickle and I have lived on maui for 37 years. I am a tennis player and an avid Pickleball player. I travel to other states to compete in Pickleball tournaments. The sport of Pickleball is exploding. Everywhere tennis courts are being converted to pickle ball courts and Pickleball specific facilities some as large as 50 courts are being built .You can put four Pickleball courts on one tennis court.Remember we are just trying to share with the tennis community by painting the line you make the court multi sports friendly. On the island of maui we have 4 permanent courts in Kehei that need to be resurfaced and repainted.and could be expanded to 8 Pickleball specific courts for Pickleball only We have 4 courts at the Lahaina civic center that I'm sure could use little love. Then in Kahului we have two tennis courts that have painted lines for Pickleball that could be repainted to accommodate 4 courts.( 2 Pickleball courts on each tennis court). Then we have Kula which are MIL sanctioned courts so these are off limits, but still playable with tape and private nets. Then you have the haiku field house that has the potential to have up two four courts with painted lines with players bringing private nets, so not to interfere with the basketball players. Then there is a tennis court in Pukalani next to the pool that is pretty much unplayable that could be resurfaced and painted for four Pickleball specific courts. If this was done right I think we could pull players from kula haiku and Kahului and this would take some pressure off the tennis community. In a perfect world the county would build a Pickleball specific facility in Kahului or Kehei that would be used to draw international players and destination tournaments .Remember the Sport of Pickleball is the fastest growing sport in the Usa right now .Pickleball grew in 2020 to 4.2 million players in the us an incredible growth rate of 21.3% from 2019. Lets get on it maui and build some courts. Field of Dreams
Aloha HCP 40 Committee,
We are in desperate need of additional pickleball courts on Maui, especially in the central district. In the attached pictures we had more players than we had courts to play on. We had a total of 6 courts set up (3 county nets and 3 we brought ourselves). There were still 25 people waiting to play! No matter where you go on the island pickleball courts are overloaded and there are lines waiting to play. This is a typical day for pickleball players. We scramble each day to find places to play our sport. The high school pickleball PE classes are forced to play on tennis courts with tennis nets. We don't ask our soccer players to play on football fields.....why do we have pickleball players playing on tennis courts?? Pickleball is growing faster than any other sport in the WORLD! We need your assistance to get additional courts ASAP. Please help.
P.S. First I tried to attach a pickleball video and it kicked it back saying "attachment is invalid". So then I tried to attach some still pictures and I got the same message. I will send you the pickleball video directly to your email inbox.
Mahalo, Brett
My name is Ann Pitcaithley, I am a former tennis player who has resided here for 32 years. I have played pickleball almost daily for the last 2.5 years. Durng the pandemic, it has provided a great source of fitness.and fun. Pickleball is recognized as the fastest growing sport in the US. It has definetely grown exponentially in Maui The demand for courts here has far outpaced the availability of public courts, resultng in crowds and long wait times .I frequently play at War Memorial in Wailuku where I live, and on a typical night, there are at least 30 people who show up. The situation is very urgent.and becomeing a crisis. The Mayor, Council and Parks and Recreation have received our petition which has 520 signatures.(change.org/pickleballmaui) The petiton describes the issue and outlines the requests from input by the Maui pickleball ambassadors. Akaku TV produced a video for us which they aired and is posted on youtube. (maui pickleball people youtube) Over the last year, I and many others have repeately appealed to Karla Peters , Director of Parks and Recreation department to address this issue. I almost always receive the same response, " We are actively assessing the situation." Other than opening the Eddie Tam gym in Makawao on Wednesday and Saturday mornings, I do not see any other changes. Unfortunately, the gym has been closed for nearly 2 years. This also does not provide a solution for a majority of players who live in central Maui where we ony have War Memorial tennis courts with shared lines reserved at the 2 upper courts for only 2 nights a week. There are a total of 14 tennis courts available in central Maui and some of these courts are underutilzed, although the ideal solution is to have our own designated pickleball courts.
As justiied by the massive growth of this sport in Maui and applying the principle of inclusion, we are entitled to greater access as other sports, We are all taxpayers.
This sport is changing, it is no longer just for Kupuna. We now have keikis playing. We are seeing a lot of former tennis players and a growing number of tourists who find courts in Maui on the places2playorg website. Pickleball courts are a relatively low financial investment. A single pickleball court is just one fourth the size of a tennis court, it is space saving and therefore more cost effective. Many pickleball players have their own portable nets which would then only require the space and permanent lines marked. . On Maui, it is now part of the physical education curriculum at Maui High School, Kalama Intermediate School and Carden Academy.The Maui YMCA is planning to install a court I recently saw Baldwin High School students playing pickleball at the War Memorial courts. There is a growing demand for pickleball leagues and tournaments .I suggest that the Parks and Recreation department provide a citizen's input group which is common and successful practice in the mainland. The community shoud have a voice. In the future, the Maui County budget should include appropriations for more pickleball courts.
Mahalo, Ann Pitcaithley 808 250-2280
My name is Laurie Loney. I was born here on Maui and have played pickleball (we call it pukaball) here since the late 60's. Now I am one of 4 Maui Ambassadors whose mission is trying to promote and facilitate this wonderful game. Recently this sport has taken off in popularity all over the world. I have seen it grow so fast on Maui it is crazy. The demand for public courts is overwhelming. We are mostly playing on tennis courts (a few of which have been converted to permanent, dedicated pickleball courts.) But the tennis players are not happy to share their courts. We really need dedicated pickleball only facilities everywhere on the island. We don't mind using tennis courts in the meantime but would prefer our own. The need is very great in central Maui. For such a large population, there are no dedicated. courts. Please consider this area soon.
Pickleball is a fun, social game which makes kapuna happy to be out and active, and is challenging enough for young players also. Since Covid I have seen the number of local players increase exponentially. This game has been very popular with visitors for years now but watch out - Maui residents are in love with it. I promise that the numbers will grow hugely.
Mahalo for your time and all you do for Maui's sports and activities. Please allocate funds in future budgets to accommodate pickleball courts.
Laurie Knox Loney, 808-250-1766
I have been playing pickleball for approximately 2 years, starting just prior to the pandemic. I live upcountry and work in Wailuku. I started out playing in the Eddie Tam gym before it was shut down and now play at War Memorial on the designated Tues/Thurs evenings and at the Haiku Field House on Saturdays. In the 2 years I've been playing, the amount of people who play has grown significantly. At War Memorial, there are many evenings where I've experienced 30 or more people with very few tennis players. Although there are 2 designated pickleball courts up top and one court down below, the court below has no net and the nets above are tennis nets, not pickleball nets. It is fortunate we have folks who bring their own nets and have gotten very creative with expanding the amount of courts by taping them off for all of us to utilize. I am in support of the county expanding pickleball accessibility. This has become a very popular sport for all ages. It is my belief that pickleball players and tennis players can co-exist, but should have equal access to resources. Mahalo for your consideration of this matter.
When the pandemic forced many of us into isolation last year and living in the unknown, the routine ways for physical activity, socialization and well-being were greatly impacted for many of us. As a senior citizen living alone, "social distancing" meant more than being 6 feet apart from others, but creating new mental and physical health challenges. My normally healthy lifestyle was not the same anymore and finding ways to feel emotionally, physically and mentally well became difficult. Fortunately, there were zoom classes and virtual sessions as well as places to walk when the beaches and parks reopened.
However, doing activities alone affected my emotional/mental health and until we were vaccinated, there was always the constant fear of being infected. It was not until this year that I discovered a new outdoor activity that has changed my life, for the better! Through friends, I learned about Pickleball, a sport I had never heard of. With no experience in racquet ball type of sport, my main physical activities were walking, hiking and yoga. Pickleball offered exactly what I needed...being outdoors in fresh air, learning a new sport that forced me to use my brain in a different way, a fun aerobic exercise that really felt good and making new friends of all ages in a cordial environment. At age 72, I was amazed that I could learn a new sport that has helped me to feel healthier both physically and emotionally.
Pickleball is for all ages and as a senior citizen of Maui County, I can clearly see it is as a great avenue for everyone to learn something new, improve their overall health, while increasing opportunities for socialization and community engagement. In order to provide the increased popularity of Pickleball, Maui needs dedicated pickleball courts or at least clearly painted pickleball lines and nets. As a long-time Wailuku resident, it has been frustrating to use the War Memorial Tennis Courts with faded pickleball lines and old tennis nets. Some individuals own and bring their own Pickleball nets, but that is not feasible for most citizens. Also, days that Pickleball games are played at War Memorial, there are hardly any tennis players and many more people waiting to play Pickleball.
It is my sincere hope that the County of Maui will recognize the increased need for supporting the sport of Pickleball and providing the basic necessities for all peoples of Maui to learn, play and enjoy Pickleball. This is all for a better Maui!