Pickleball courts upgraded at Lakewood Ranch Park

After moving from Minnesota to Lakewood Ranch in 2012, Lakewood Ranch Country Club resident Carol Lucas met most of her friends through playing pickleball, but not at the club.

Lucas likes to play at Lakewood Ranch Park because she said any player at any level can show up for open play and join in.

But that option wasn't available when the courts went under construction for the past few months.

Regulars at Lakewood Ranch Park are glad to be playing there again. The courts are back open.

Manatee County finished the approximately $250,000 renovation to the pickleball courts in August. The facility went from five rather rough courts to six new asphalt courts with a hitting wall, shade structure, seating area, water bottle filler, lights and an additional 25 parking spaces. 

The group of about 20 pickleball players at the park on Sept. 10 filled five of the six courts, but Lucas said come winter, there will be about 50 to 60 players there on a Tuesday morning. 

Kathi Knatz also lives in the Country Club, but she and Lucas met at Lakewood Ranch Park playing pickleball. Knatz was a former tennis player.

“Our matches only last between 12 and 15 minutes. When you play tennis, it’s an hour for a set and you’re sitting there waiting,” Knatz said. “That’s the beauty of pickleball. You get out there and meet new people, then you get off the court and meet some more different people.” 

That’s why Lucas wants Manatee County to lower its bar and focus on providing more neighborhood courts. 

“Manatee has focused on building premier courts,” she said. “They built courts at GT Bray, which are gorgeous, but it takes you 45 minutes to get over there. They aren’t building neighborhood courts. They’re building competition courts.”

Lucas said there is a need for competition courts, as well, but she’s met a lot of residents from Parrish playing at Lakewood Ranch Park because there are no public courts in Parrish. The only courts were provided by developers, which are then only available to residents in those developments.

Photo by Lesley Dwyer

Lucas said pickleball is for the entire community. She’s noticed how the demographics of the courts at Lakewood Ranch Park change throughout the day. 

“In the morning, it’s retirees,” she said. “If you come here at 5 in the afternoon, it’s families, young kids, teenagers and young 20s that are taking over the courts. It’s amazing to see.” 

While the Lakewood Ranch Park pickleball courts are open for play, there are a few things that still need to be tweaked. Director of Sports and Leisure Molly White said the courts will be closed for a few hours during the week of Sept. 16, but in the afternoon when play is typically light. 

“These are minor adjustments that need to be made — add a yellow line around the edge of the concrete, adjust the net height, touch up the courts, which we didn’t have time to do before opening due to weather conditions,” White said. 

The shade structure will need to be adjusted, too. It was a leftover that was originally purchased for Washington Park. Then, it was moved to Rob DeSantis Park, but didn’t work with the playground there.

The structure finally made its way to Lakewood Ranch Park, but it stands about 20 feet high. Lucas said when the sun hits it, it mostly shades the parking lot instead of the courts. 

White said staff is working with a vendor to get a price on shorter poles. The plan is to order the new poles in October, but she’s not sure when they’ll arrive and be installed. 

Minor details aside, Lucas said it’s nice to have “real pickleball courts.” The original five courts were old basketball courts that the county painted pickleball lines on. 

“I like the surface,” Knatz said. “It has nice traction. It feels good and doesn’t hurt my knees.”