Pickleball league to take up Ritts Park Mondays and Wednesdays
A pickleball league hosted by the Butler YMCA starts next week at Ritts Park, but its 88 slots are already full, as are the 88 slots for its ensuing league, which begins the last week of June.
Jamie Knauff, aquatics and program director for the Butler YMCA, said the league was equally successful last summer, and the YMCA is bringing it back this summer because of the demand for members to play on an outdoor court, rather than in the YMCA gyms.
“Some people do not enjoy indoor and some do not enjoy outdoor,” Knauff said of pickleball players. “This gives everybody an opportunity to play where they want.”
Butler City Council approved an agreement with the Butler YMCA at a meeting Thursday, April 25, allowing the YMCA to use all seven courts at Ritts Park from 5:45 to 9 p.m. on Monday and Wednesday evenings from June to September.
Butler City Councilman Dan Herr said the YMCA is charging a fee for players to sign up for the leagues, and the city will get a percentage of the profit. Herr said the league raised more than $1,400 for the city last summer, when the league operated only one night per week.
“I want to see this being used, and it worked out really well last year,” Herr said. “They handle all the equipment, and the actual balls being used.”
According to Knauff, players can still get on the wait list for the second session of the league that starts in late-June, but that list is also starting to fill up. She said pickleball has been a good way for the YMCA to engage with adults, because of the accessibility of the sport.
“Pickleball is taking off,” Knauff said. “It's a way for us to get engaged in the community. It was successful (last year) and we're happy to do it again.”
For more information on the YMCA’s pickleball league, visit its website at bcfymca.org.
