By sometime this spring, Long Beach should have dozens more courts available for pickleball, the social sport that’s exploded in popularity in recent years.

Some city facilities will have existing tennis courts restriped so either sport could be played, and at least two sites—DeForest and Veterans parks—will gain dedicated pickleball courts in the next couple of months, city Parks, Recreation and Marine Director Brent Dennis said.

Work at DeForest Park to install lighted courts, which could be used in the early morning and late evening, could start as soon as next week and should be done by the end of March, Dennis said, and the city has plans to restripe tennis, basketball and volleyball courts at more than a half-dozen other parks.

Dennis said when he joined the city about two and a half years ago, it had just one pickleball court. When short-term projects are complete there will be 66 courts, and by 2026, “we may have upwards of 100 or more opportunity courts throughout our city,” he said.

The improvements can’t come too soon for some pickleball players. People are going to neighboring cities to play because there aren’t enough courts here, said Gary Ballard, who’s played for about five years and is one of several local “ambassadors” for USA Pickleball, the sport’s national governing body.

To illustrate his point, Ballard recalled a situation last fall when the tennis court at tiny College Estates Park became increasingly popular with pickleballers, frustrating residents in the surrounding neighborhood with noise and activity at all hours.

The neighbors put locks on the tennis court gates to keep pickleball players out, they retaliated by sawing the gates open, and it escalated from there.

“There was a verbal exchange between the neighbors and the players, and the police were called,” Ballard said. (Now the court sits unused, waiting to be restriped.)

Many more courts are needed, and the pickleball community looks forward to seeing new ones come online, Ballard said, but he tries not to get too excited before the work is actually done.

Dennis is exploring several avenues to grant pickleball players’ wishes: Parks officials are considering dual striping at city gymnasiums; a potential agreement with the city school district could allow public use of school courts when students aren’t on campus; and if the City Council approves the funding, eight more courts for pickleball would be added adjacent to the Billie Jean King Tennis Center.

Drop-in pickleball hours may also be expanded at the city’s two tennis centers. Some players have grumbled about the $5 per person fee at those sites, but Councilmember Daryl Supernaw said he’s looking into soliciting sponsors to cover the cost at the one in his district, the El Dorado Tennis Center.

And long-term, there’s the potential for a pickleball complex with as many as 36 courts where tournaments could be held, though it’s unknown how much it would cost or how it would be paid for.

Long Beach seeks to expand pickleball courts as popularity of sport soars