Photo courtesy of the Town of Kenneth City
On Aug. 14, Kenneth City’s Town Council evaluated how to better utilize the Kenneth City pickleball courts.
“I wasn’t fully aware how excited and enthusiastic everybody is about pickleball,” said Council member Tony Chan.
The James Ernst Park pickleball courts (4600 58th St. N.) opened in May. Kenneth City residents and friends quickly showed interest in the game of pickleball.
“There’s some things that you can’t quantify: goodwill, better health, exercise,” Chan said.
Kenneth City Pickleball Courts
“We had the grand opening of our pickleball courts in the past, and we brought a professional in that helped promote it,” said Michael Vieno, Kenneth City’s police chief and acting town manager.
Vieno continued to explain the renting process with court usage.
“Some cities take the line of charging $200 a day to rent the courts,” Vieno said.
Kenneth City pickleball is not all that happened at the Aug. 14 Kenneth City Town Council meeting. Read about Town budget updates and Tropical Storm Debby in Kenneth City.
Vice-mayor Bonnie Noble noted that this was a cost-effective project to bring more people to the town.
“[It] has really turned into a town square,” Noble said. “There’s a lot of people here that come from surrounding areas and inside the town.”
Kenneth City Loves Pickleball
Public comments mentioned the benefits of pickleball were exercise and socializing aspects.
“[I] met a lot of people in the town that I never even knew,” said resident Cathy O’Dell during the public comment section.
Gulfport resident Robin Shemendera said she likes to play pickleball in Kenneth City. However, Shemendera said she can’t play in her town because she’s not “good enough.”
“I went to your town, and I had this lady and all these people that said, ‘Come play with me’,” Shemendera said about Kenneth City.
“I just love what we have here,” Annette Clifford said. “… how we can all kind of play, no matter how old or how young you are, no matter how good you are.”
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