Spring into the country’s fastest-growing sport at the Minneapolis parks 

According to sports industry reports, the ranks of the nation’s pickleball players nearly doubled between 2022 and 2023, with nearly 9 million players who now know a dink shot from a double hit. 

At least a few of those new fans got their start last season at North Minneapolis’s Folwell Park, thanks to a People for Parks Fund grant that helped provide free equipment and instruction to new players through the Folwell Neighborhood Association. You can join them this spring by checking out the growing pickleball programming offered by the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board. 

“Pickleball’s popularity is showing no signs of slowing down,” says Scott Gagnon, an MPRB athletic programs specialist who directs the leagues that now meet at nine outdoor and four indoor court locations. “I think what makes it so popular is that it’s a game with a quick learning curve, and you can make good shots and feel that success right away as a beginner, which keeps people coming back. All ages can play against each other, which also seems to build the camaraderie that people feel through pickleball.”

If you’re new to pickleball, or ready to take your game to the next level, MPRB has plenty of options, from a two-hour “crash course” that teaches new players the basics, to a “coached while you play” option that offers real-time tips and tricks, as well as more traditional weekly lesson packages. While 15 parks locations offer pickleball courts striped onto existing tennis courts, basketball courts and other hard surfaces, six new dedicated pickleball courts were opened at Lake Nokomis last summer. Two additional dedicated pickleball court spaces are coming soon to Loring Park and Dickman Park. 

While it’s fun for families and friends to play as a group, Gagnon also recommends getting into the easy-going culture of the game by putting your racquet in the queue and playing with whomever is next in line. “My phone is now full of people I know by their first name and the word ‘pickleball,’” he says. “Meeting new people is definitely a part of the pickleball culture.” 

Click here to learn more about MPRB’s pickleball plans and resources.

Featured image courtesy of MPRB, additional images courtesy of Scott Gagnon.