Evanston residents Diane and Helder dos Santos began playing pickleball during the COVID-19 pandemic. The two quickly became infatuated with the sport, but they were frustrated by the lack of outdoor pickleball courts in Evanston.
Diane and Helder are part of a larger movement advocating for the city to build dedicated pickleball courts for its residents.
On Oct. 11, the two started an online petition with over 600 signatures advocating for Evanston to replace the James Park tennis courts with 15 pickleball courts, including one accessible court to accommodate the adaptive pickleball community in Evanston.
The proposed plan had been approved Oct. 24 by Parks and Recreation and is being discussed by City Council.
Diane and Helder resorted to playing pickleball in neighboring municipalities like Skokie and Wilmette, but they said there is a need for Evanston to accommodate the growing number of pickleball players in the city.
“Pickleball is the fastest growing sport in America right now, and the fact that we don’t have any dedicated pickleball courts in Evanston is sad,” said Helder. “We’re just lacking. We’re lagging behind.”
Diane and Helder said pickleball has a more community-focused feel than tennis, which is often played in more formal capacities.
“This is pick-up games,” Diane said. “This is like people mingling like you did when you were a kid.”
However, some members of the Evanston tennis community are frustrated by the loss of the James Park tennis courts.
Deborah Cassell, president of the Evanston Community Tennis Association recognizes that a compromise between the two communities is necessary. But she worries that the city will not have money leftover in its budget to fulfill its promises to the tennis community.
“If those courts are not resurfaced, then it’s a grave injustice because you’ve taken away one of the most popular tennis court locations and then you haven’t fixed the courts that are unplayable and even dangerous,” Cassell said.
While Evanston currently has 34 tennis courts, many of these courts are unusable and in need of resurfacing. Cassell said she slipped and injured herself while playing in a tournament at Ackerman Park because of its poorly maintained surface.
While Evanston currently has several double-lined tennis courts, both pickleball and tennis players are in agreement that pickleball needs dedicated courts.
Both communities are frustrated by the double-lined courts, as these extra lines make it more difficult for tennis players to line judge. Additionally, tennis nets are both wider and taller than pickleball nets, making it more difficult to play pickleball.
Additionally, James Park along with Lovelace Park, is one of only two locations in Evanston with six tennis courts.
The tennis community relies on these two parks to host tournaments, which often require at least five or six tennis courts in one location. However, Evanston holds programming and tennis lessons at Lovelace Park, so it is often unavailable, Cassell said.
While the city has promised to increase availability at Lovelace, many tennis players are still worried about the loss of James Park, Cassell said.
“I think that if the city resurfaces these courts, as they’ve spoken about striving to do, that will ease the blow in the long run, because we have so many courts that can’t be played on right now,” Cassell said. “But the difficulty of only having one court location with six courts, it’s got a bitter taste.”
While Helder recognizes that some tennis players are upset by the proposed plan, he said he believes that its included provisions for the tennis community will give both sports the ability to thrive in Evanston.
He hopes that the proposed conversion will create a hub for pickleball in Evanston, building community.
“Yes, there are some tennis players who are upset about this conversion,” Helder said. “But the thing is, we have nothing. The pickleball community in Evanston has nothing.”
Cassell reemphasized the importance of compromise between the two communities.
She added that this has been a long and arduous process, with the ECTA participating in meetings with Parks and Recreation for the past two years.
“We’re not going to make everyone happy. You’d be hard-pressed to find a tennis player in Evanston who is happy about losing James Park,” Cassell said. “But at the end of the day, whatever happens, happens, and we just hope that the city sort of stands by what it’s saying.”
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