It’s exploding in popularity, and although it kind of resembles tennis, Pickleball is far from it. “Many, many, many differences. One, we play with what you would see is more like a whiffle ball,” Founder of Detroiter’s Play Pickle ball Association, Deborah Ferguson, told “Live in the D’s” April Morton. She says they play at what they call the “kitchen line,” which is close to the net, so there’s not a lot of heavy duty running involved.
Ferguson gained a passion for pickle ball around 2015, but had challenges finding a place to play in her hometown. “When I started playing pickle ball I could not find a site anywhere in the city of Detroit that was housing pickle ball activities,” Ferguson said. She said, she was determined to bring the sport to her community, so she reached out to the city. “The city of Detroit revamped the tennis courts and they put three Pickleball small courts in the tennis courts on Woodward and 7 mile.” The city also put courts at the Adam Butzel Center on Detroit’s westside.
Ferguson said after reaching out to a small group to peek interest in the sport, their membership is taking off. She says they went from 6 to 40 people, ranging in age from 28 to 87. They play five days a week at either Palmer Park or the Adam Butzel Center, and Ferguson says its all for fun and a good work out.
She invites anyone interested to join in on the game. The group plays Monday through Wednesday, and Friday, at 8:30 a.m. at Palmer Park. They also plays Tuesdays and Thursdays at 8:30 a.m. at the Adam Butzel Center. Evening games are held Tuesdays and Thursdays at 6 p.m. at Palmer Park.
April Morton tried pickle ball out for the first time. Watch the video above to see how it went.