FOLLOWUP: Pro-pickleball petition drive opposing Seattle Parks ‘racquet sports strategy’

| West Seattle news | West Seattle parks | WS & Sports

(From Seattle Metro Pickleball Association website)

Nine days after Seattle Parks released its “draft racquet-sports strategy” – here’s our first story – the Seattle Metro Pickleball Association has launched an online petition drive urging the city to at least “pause … all pickleball court removals.” The organization says the “strategy” – which would separate the two sports, which currently share many dual-striped courts – would remove 36 pickleball courts in seven locations, including four at Alki (lighted courts, the organization notes) and four in High Point. Next steps for the proposal include a discussion at tomorrow night’s Alki Community Council meeting and an official briefing at the 6 pm April 23 Board of Parks and Recreation Commissioners meeting downtown (which includes a public-comment period).

Kyle April 15, 2026 (5:02 pm)

Stripe all the courts dual use. Have people rotate or reserve courts to play the racket sport for their choice. With all that is going on this could be solved in like 2 seconds. This is like skier vs. snowboard rivalries in the 80’s on how those sports were also “incompatible”.

Beanie April 15, 2026 (5:45 pm)

Many of the courts are already dual striped, so this is an utter waste of resources. Pickleball players are happy to share the courts and work within the reservation and first come first served system. Not sure why the tennis folks can’t share, especially when they have lots of unused tennis-only courts already.
- Alki Resident April 16, 2026 (7:01 am)
  
  Of the people proposing the change to tennis only, most don’t care about tennis. They just don’t want any pickleball players.
- wscommuter April 16, 2026 (10:04 am)
  
  Non-tennis folks either don’t understand or do not want to understand. Pickleball next to tennis is miserable for tennis players. So have separate spaces. Give pickleball folks adequate court space at dedicated courts. Give tennis folks adequate court space at dedicated courts. As it is, pickleball is played at every public tennis court facility in W. Seattle except for Solstice Park. We can live with that. Give the pickleball folks Alki, Walt Hundley, WS High School and Southwest courts. Leave Solstice alone. As was promised by Seattle Parks a couple of years ago.
  - Kathy April 17, 2026 (11:42 pm)
    
    Did you forget about 3 lighted tennis only courts at Hiawatha Playfield?. Not even mentioned in the study.

Curious George April 15, 2026 (5:22 pm)

I can’t see any logical reason to not ‘share’ the courts. Our peoples egos really that big❓

It’s the Noise April 15, 2026 (6:30 pm)

Thank you Parks & Rec for understanding these two sports don’t mix!

the 33 April 15, 2026 (8:03 pm)

This is crazy. Let both use the same courts and use a reservation and/or first come first serve system. Other than elitist tennis folks not wanting to share the courts, there is no rational reason for this “debate” at all.

North Admiral Neighbor April 15, 2026 (6:35 pm)

I have no stake in this game, but I have to say it’s kind of refreshing to see a very non-partisan low-stakes debate continue to play out

Mike April 15, 2026 (6:39 pm)

While I know this is a very serious topic for many people, I really want more Pickleball drama content on the WSB, so I signed the petition.

Lauren April 15, 2026 (7:22 pm)

This is the weirdest feud

Westender April 15, 2026 (7:55 pm)

Why can’t these sports co-exist? People hitting balls back and forth over a net. Doesn’t seem that difficult to me.

K April 15, 2026 (8:50 pm)

They can, and they do elsewhere. People need to grow up.

Alki resident April 15, 2026 (9:07 pm)

The war on pickleball in this city is insane. There are so many pickleball places popping up everywhere. Not everyone wants to be stuck in a building, the days are going to get nice and people will want to be outside. Enough with the cry babies against pickleball. Time to share the courts people.

robert goulet April 15, 2026 (10:30 pm)

Sure, close down Alki and HighPoint, and force every pickleball player who enjoys the outdoors to the 4 courts at Delridge. That seems real fair. I drive by Solstice Park tennis courts by Lincoln Park, they’re frequently empty, same with Delridge and HighPoint when it comes to tennis. There just aren’t that many tennis players out there like before. Older folks with less mobility or who just enjoy the sport need accessibility to courts to play PBall. Leave the courts as dual purposed.

enjoyerofcucumbers April 15, 2026 (10:45 pm)

Why not use the old Tennis courts in Lincoln Park? Just needs a coat of paint.

Amy G April 16, 2026 (8:22 am)

It’d need to be resurfaced. That’d be great but the bird people said the noise would impact the birds in the park. They should check out the noise at soccer games at Lincoln Park!
Churro Strength April 16, 2026 (8:34 am)

This is not going to happen. Stop pushing it. It’s already been decided. Find somewhere else to play.
Evil Pickle April 16, 2026 (9:22 am)

I play all the time at Lincoln Park. Just bring my own pop up net and pickle away!

IDC9 April 15, 2026 (10:54 pm)

Perhaps the best solution is to have one third of courts striped exclusively for tennis, one third of courts striped exclusively for pickleball, and one third of courts striped for both sports at each park where these courts exist. Make half of the courts available by reservation and the other half first come first served.

Amy G April 16, 2026 (8:20 am)

The number of pickleball players are higher than tennis, and the growth of pickleball is also higher than tennis. Same number of courts would be a huge improvement but not actually equitable.

Amy G April 15, 2026 (11:36 pm)

Remember back when skiers didn’t like snowboarders ruining their slopes? It’s very much like the tennis and pickleball players situation in Seattle. What the city proposed make no sense at all. While other cities build pickleball courts, Seattle tries to roll back our already limited number of courts. Hope we get to the co-exist phase sooner rather than later.

Pickles April 16, 2026 (7:41 am)

Seems like there are still people out there that want pickleball in Lincoln Park. The local community said no. You lost. Get over it.

foop April 16, 2026 (11:24 am)

What’s your take on WSLE and ST3?

Andrew April 16, 2026 (8:09 am)

Genuine question: What are the reasons for removing pickleball courts? I’d like to try and be open to hearing the reasons and deciding objectively if it makes sense. I’ve heard noise as a reason. I don’t think noise is a cogent argument to deny pickleball players access to courts.

Mick April 16, 2026 (11:19 am)

Its definitely the noise.. Very annoying if you’re playing serious tennis.
- Andrew April 16, 2026 (4:54 pm)
  
  Thanks Mick. Although I still think noise shouldn’t be the reason to eliminate pickleball courts, I will try and be cognizant and attempt to play with a silent ninja ball if tennis players are next to me. https://youtube.com/shorts/__uM7eVmoPM?si=yuRJS0Vyp7jJLsxI
  
  Not quite sure I’m ready to give up playing Britney Spears on the boombox though during our pickleball sesh
  - liz April 16, 2026 (11:04 pm)
    
    I play tennis at a “serious” level (4.5) and truly unless you’re playing singles in some tournament the noise shouldn’t matter for fun / recreational play. We should share the courts!

Ah April 16, 2026 (8:59 am)

While we are knocking out buildings for light rail why not build pickle ball courts near the stadiums and light rail. Just a thought. We need green belts and parks to have trees and less concrete, parking, and hard surface courts. We need to build a bigger tree canopy. This also includes getting back what we have lost. It’s getting hotter and dryer in Seattle and with more housing going in, urban planners must find more areas for trees. Urban folks do not want to hear this but it is true that climate change is a factor in most issues.

Kathy April 16, 2026 (4:22 pm)

If it’s really the noise at Alki, wear earplugs. If you can’t stand seeing Pickleball being played, look the other way or play tennis at Solstice where courts are often free. Or get together with friends and reserve the whole court for tennis. Drop in Pickleball at Alki is a friendly, social sport and a community gathering place, one of the few here since we haven’t had a functioning community center for many years (remember roller skating Fridays?). We live in a city – noise is expected – we’re not banning cars and trucks because of traffic noise. Of course there was little noise when the racquet court was used as a hangout for vandals, drug users and dog exercisers more than for racquet sports.

Cookie Monster April 16, 2026 (4:39 pm)

I’ve read the comments and several posts about what is going on.. anyone can reserve courts at any time. I have done it several times to play pickle ball at alki. I will print out my information given to me from parks and rec about my reserved time frame and head on down. As someone who plays out door I’ve been told from the Amy yee tennis center ( the place you call to make a reservation.) that if I don’t have a reservation I can be on the court for 90 mins if people are waiting. In my year of playing pickle ball at alki I have never seen any tennis players come ask to use the court.From what I’ve been seeing is alot of finger pointing at the two groups but there has been NO CONVERSATIONS about what is going on.. now parks and recs has taken it upon themselves to make the decision which isn’t right either..To make alki just a tennis court doesn’t make sense- the lines are painted for pickleball and nets were donated so people can play. Hear me out on this.. west seattle high school uses Hiawatha tennis courts for tennis practice and games. There are several people who go to Hiawatha and play tennis. Why send the high schoolers to Alki when Hiawatha is right there. Finally.. I started a petition last spring about Parks and Rec needing to repaint the courts at Alki because, they are dangerous. I had 285 people fill the petition out and I was told alki would be fixed this spring.. now we wait to see if we have it as a pickle ball court…

PTA Pres. April 16, 2026 (9:57 pm)

I maybe passionate about playing pickleball but I am even more passionate about getting pickleball paddles in elementary kids hands. I have put classroom sets of used paddles from local pb players in 5 elementary schools in West Seattle along with plenty of balls. I plan to get atleast 5 more sets together by the end of the year. I put on two free after school enrichment courses at two different schools in West Seattle and want courts to be accessible to the kids living in our neighborhoods. Pickleball is not just about the current folks playing. It is about all the kids who need exercise and less screen time. It is about building more community right in our neighborhoods. It is about bringing families out to play an active sport together. It is about our kids connecting with adults and positive role models. This is not about one sport being superior to the other. Rather it is about bringing joy and exercise with a side of life long exercise to our future generation. Build out parks for our current kids and future confident leaders.

Fauntleroy Fairy April 17, 2026 (10:23 pm)

You’ve just described the game of tennis perfectly!

Joe Lamy April 17, 2026 (6:45 pm)

Why would we dismantle something that works so beautifully?Pickleball courts are more than lines on asphalt. They are where strangers become friends, where neighbors become a community, and where people of all ages find joy, movement, and belonging. They are one of the few remaining public spaces where Seattleites still talk to each other, laugh with each other, and show up for each other without needing to buy a ticket or pay a membership fee.At a time when loneliness is being called a public‑health crisis, it makes no sense to dismantle one of the most effective, organic antidotes we have. Removing courts without building replacements doesn’t just inconvenience players — it fractures a community that has built itself, day by day, paddle by paddle, on the simple belief that everyone deserves a place to belong.Seattle Parks should listen to the people who use these courts every day and commit to a simple principle: no removal of existing pickleball courts until new ones are built and open. Not promised. Not planned. Built.Seattle has always prided itself on being a city that values connection, equity, and public space. This is a chance to live up to that identity. Let’s choose the version of Seattle that invests in community rather than quietly eroding it. Let’s choose the version of Seattle that understands that sometimes the most meaningful infrastructure isn’t a building or a bridge — it’s a place where people come together.We deserve a city that protects the spaces where community thrives. And right now, that means protecting our pickleball courts.

Joe April 28, 2026 (8:56 pm)

The United States Tennis Association is doing its best to COMBAT pickleball. Take a LOOK at what they have been doing here in Seattle. How USTA is Squashing Pickleball and How SPR Fell Prey to its Tactics

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