Please Dink Responsibly

Pickleball’s skyrocketing popularity across northern Michigan

2025, according to the Sports & Fitness Industry Association. Pickleball participation has grown 479 percent in just five years—an astronomical ascent, driven during the pandemic by the game’s accessibility as a socially distanced outdoor activity with minimal gear and easy-to-learn rules.

But pickleball’s dominance hasn’t just meant more paddles sold, quirky t-shirts worn (“I dink, therefore I am”), or telltale staccato “pops” ringing out on local courts. The wave is transforming northern Michigan parks and recreational facilities—and creating a whole new social outlet for residents.

The Beginning

The Traverse Area Pickleball Association (TAPA) is one of the leading organizers of the sport in northern Michigan. According to the group, pickleball first came to Traverse City in 1985 when a handful of Grand Traverse Yacht Club members discovered the game and persuaded the club to build a dedicated court. “It became the perfect way for those playing members to spend a summer lunch hour, playing pickleball and then refreshing themselves with a dip in the Bay,” according to TAPA’s website.

Featuring teams of singles or doubles, pickleball is a paddle sport—with elements of tennis, badminton, and ping-pong—played on a 20-by-44-foot court. The smaller court size, about a quarter of the size of a tennis court, and lightweight equipment make it less strenuous and therefore more accommodating to a wide range of fitness, age, and skill levels.

Eventually, the desire for a longer pickleball season led Yacht Club players to partner with the Grand Traverse Bay YMCA to create indoor courts by marking off tennis and basketball courts. Three indoor courts were soon established at the South YMCA, followed by the conversion of two outdoor tennis courts to three outdoor pickleball courts. Numerous Traverse City players competed in the first national pickleball championships in the early 2000s, with a regional tournament—called the Great Lakes Open—starting in 2012.

TAPA was formed in 2014, spearheading an effort to add more pickleball-only courts at the South YMCA. The facility today now has six dedicated indoor courts, with another eight adjacent dedicated outdoor courts along the Boardman River. Matt Haberichter, 45, discovered pickleball during COVID and quickly became involved with TAPA, today serving as board president.

“We work with cities and townships [to create courts], we run tournaments, we hold beginner and kids clinics, we introduce people to the game, we donate equipment, and we use funds to improve existing courts,” Haberichter explains of the group’s mission. Membership has risen to about 160 members, with the Great Lakes Open attracting over 250 participants annually.

The Courts

The number of local outdoor courts has exploded in recent years, driven in part by TAPA’s support. TAPA maintains a database of area courts on its website (TCPickle.com) ranging from the tip of Old Mission Peninsula at Bowers Harbor Park to Blair Township Park to Glen Arbor Township Park to Braman Park in Northport.

Haberichter estimates there are about 50 dedicated outdoor courts in the Grand Traverse area now, 30 of which have come online in just the last few years.

Municipalities are rapidly investing in new facilities. Garfield Township, for instance, recently debuted four brand-new pickleball courts at Silver Lake Recreation Area. The City of Traverse City is also preparing to significantly invest in reconstructing its six pickleball courts at Slabtown Corner—a project heavily pushed by TAPA that was also backed by city voters as an approved use of Brown Bridge Trust Fund dollars. With an estimated budget of $450,000, the courts are set to be redone next spring complete with a new shade structure and fenced division area between courts with seating, according to Traverse City Parks and Recreation Director Michelle Hunt.

The fervor for more courts can occasionally lead to strain. In Leland Township, for instance, tensions have flared over the Hancock Recreational Area (often called Hancock Field). The property is owned by the township but has been used by Leland Public School for various sports by deed. As the township works through a design process for park improvements, a push to create more pickleball courts has been met with school resistance to preserve field space.

Those negotiations, which are still ongoing, reflect a debate happening across many park properties and facilities: trying to accommodate new trends, like pickleball, while preserving stalwart sports, like baseball or tennis.

For example, when the Traverse City Senior Center was recently reconstructed, the facility was updated to include not only improved shuffleboard courts—a hallmark amenity of the facility—but courts for both tennis and pickleball players.

“One thing I remind people of is that tennis is an Olympic sport, and we can’t just take all the tennis courts out and make them pickleball courts,” says Hunt. “It’s important to highlight that it shouldn’t be an either/or. We still have tennis teams in high schools; it’s still a popular sport. Making decisions based solely on trends can be risky, so maintaining a balance of equitable access for all different users is important.”

Support the Courts

Oftentimes, a compromise is reached by using striping and portable nets to accommodate both tennis and pickleball players.

That’s the case in the Village of Beulah, where a group of loyal pickleball players has launched an effort called Support the Courts backed by the Beulah Boosters. Member Vicki Carpenter started playing pickleball in retirement over a decade ago to stay physically active. However, she found the sport soon brought something even more meaningful to her life.

“It’s become a huge communal activity,” she says. “Seniors need companionship and a social life. Pickleball gives you that. We trash talk, we know each other’s stories, we share it all. It gets you moving and gives you a reason to get out of the house. You build a lot of memories together.”

Beulah’s scene, which can draw well over 1,000 players over the course of the summer, has seen five-year-olds playing with their parents all the way up to competitors in their nineties, Carpenter says.

The court facilities are evolving alongside the players. The group initially used a combination of striping tape and portable nets to play on courts intended for basketball and tennis. But their passion for the sport coalesced into a fundraising drive that raised over $65,000 and helped the village sign a contract with Team Elmer’s this summer to completely reconstruct a pickleball court at Beulah Village Park.

Support the Courts (which is sharing regular updates at GrowBenzie.org/SupportTheCourts) is still fundraising for a second phase of work: resurfacing and relining two village tennis courts to accommodate both sports.

One court is at the Village Park, the other at Northway Park. That will bring the village total to two tennis courts and five pickleball courts, Carpenter says. The group needs to raise about $50,000-$55,000 more to complete the project, she estimates, adding they’re applying for grants and planning for long-term maintenance costs as part of the campaign.

What’s Next for Pickleball?

Supporters don’t see pickleball’s growth slowing down anytime soon. While TAPA’s Haberichter believes there’s now adequate outdoor space to meet local demand, indoor pickleball courts remain at a premium.

In addition to the South YMCA, Pickle U hosts eight year-round indoor courts in Williamsburg. Grand Traverse Resort & Spa has five indoor courts, and a “handful of churches and gyms” also have courts, Haberichter says. But he sees a growing need for more year-round playing space, with TAPA willing to lend its support to any groups pursuing that goal.

Players are also excited about the possibility of pickleball becoming even more of a mainstream sport. Many high schools and colleges across Michigan are adding pickleball clubs or leagues, Haberichter says, with the National Collegiate Pickleball Championship set to hold its first international collegiate competition in November.

Many players hope to see pickleball eventually become an officially sanctioned NCAA sport—and beyond that, to be included in the sports world’s biggest stage.

“I think within the next eight years, pickleball will be an Olympic sport,” says Haberichter. “That would be very fun. It’s definitely heading that way.”

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