New pickleball courts open at Sky River Park

MONROE — “Phwop!” “Phwop!” “Phwop!” “Whoosh!”
The city opened two new pickleball courts at Sky River Park last week.
The concrete is fresh. The trees nearby provide shade.
The players are eager.
Carrie Horner’s family brought their pickleball paddles.
Horner said she believes her family will be playing here a lot. They live in downtown and love they could ride bikes to the new courts.
Natalya Datskiv of Monroe brought her grandkids William and Joseph, ages 6 and 8 respectively, to play.
“They go to this park almost every day,” Datskiv said.
Sky River Park has Monroe’s first true outdoor pickleball courts using regulation-height nets.
Until now, Monroe had two courts striped onto the tennis courts at Lake Tye Park.
Next month, it’s planning to convert a tennis court at Lake Tye Park into four pickleball courts. Monroe will have seven courts in town, city parks director Mike Farrell said.
“It’s great,” said city park board member Ron Petrick, who plays. “Pickleball is a lifelong sport, much like golf.”
The small court size makes it “much more approachable than tennis,” said player Jack Freelander, who lives about a five-minute drive away from Sky River Park.
Freelander said the rules of pickleball are “almost like ping-pong, except you’re standing on the table.”
Player Mike Ellinger of Monroe said there’s no local pickleball league in Monroe that he’s aware of, but a group plays indoor pickleball in the mornings at the Monroe Y.
Ellinger said outdoor and indoor pickleball use different size whiffle balls, and outdoor presents variables such as wind.
A typical game is won by whoever reaches 11 points first, as long as you’re up by two on your opponent, but you only can score on your serve.
Player Larry Imbeau, who’s been playing for five or six years now by his count, advocated for Monroe to add more pickleball courts.
The city heard the call.
“It’s a growing sport,” Farrell said.
Imbeau thinks tournaments could be held in Monroe as it will have seven courts to use.
Freelander appreciates the courts at Sky River Park receive shade from nearby trees. “Not a lot of courts have shady areas,” Freelander said.
Freelander said that when he began playing pickleball about four years ago, he had to drive to Kirkland to play. Since then, Monroe’s added these and Snohomish striped four pickleball courts at Pilchuck Park.
Last Tuesday’s ribboncutting had Mayor Geoffrey Thomas surrounded by City Council members and parks board members.
The city paid for these courts using real estate excise tax funds, a city transaction fee collected from the sale of houses and properties, plus the county chipped in, too.
The city’s park board prioritized adding more pickleball, Thomas said.
Councilwoman Heather Fulcher gave her first crack at the game last week, soled in sandals. The game is fun, she said.

    Kids play at the new pickleball courts at Sky River Park Tuesday, July 23.
 Photo by Michael Whitney   

Elected officials and pickleball fanatics cut the ribbon to the new courts. (Michael Whitney photo)