Rows of pickleball paddles are lined up side-by-side, handle-up, along the fences of the courts at Fairchild Park on San Antonio’s East Side — sometimes 80 to 90 at a time, signaling the “call” for who gets to play the next game.
As players leave the courts, more enter, including kids, seniors, college students and middle-aged couples.
Until this week, that was the routine every day until around 8:30 p.m., when the park officially closed. Before leaving, park staff moved the crowds of players to the six after-hours tennis courts, which was a problem for players that got there later to avoid the beaming sun.
For months, pickleball enthusiasts who used the courts at Fairchild waited in long lines and watched more than they could play. Frustrated, a group of community activists came together to do something about it.
At least 20 different players who frequent the courts at Fairchild Park called or contacted the city’s Parks and Recreation Department, asking them to extend the court hours past 8:30 p.m., allowing later access to all 18 pickleball courts and 10 tennis courts.
It took weeks for the City of San Antonio to move, but the group was eventually successful, said Cindy Waddell, an East Side resident and president of the San Antonio Pickleball Association.
Now, people can play pickleball as early as 5 a.m., all the way until to 11 p.m.
And they do.
Dubbed as an easy and social sport, pickleball is described as a combination of tennis, Ping-Pong and badminton and is just that easy — there’s no running and no special skills needed.
It’s a sport for people of all ages that was invented in 1965, but quickly spread across the country after the COVID-19 pandemic as a way for people to keep active and busy. In San Antonio, that’s how many pickleballers who now play at Fairchild got into it in the first place.
“Back then, they opened the gates for us during COVID,” Waddell said. “We just played as much as we could to be outside and play safely with our family members. That’s kind of how it got started.”
Waddell, who lives near Fairchild Park, said the neighborhood got its first pickleball court about eight years ago. Then the city added more courts and soon, dozens of people showed up for free pickleball open plays four times a week.
Before this week, regular hours at the park were from 3:30 p.m. until 8 or 8:30 p.m., depending on the night, and the courts were only open from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturdays.
Now, the park opens at 5 a.m. and the lights stay on until 11 p.m., said Connie Swann, spokeswoman for the city’s Parks and Recreation Department. More pickleball courts are planned in District 5 at Monterrey Park, the city said.
“San Antonio Parks and Recreation shares the community’s excitement for pickleball,” the Parks and Recreation Department said in a statement. “The expanded hours of operation will accommodate more pickleball players and opportunities for recreation.
“The Department strives to meet the evolving needs of our community, and we’re pleased to support the growth of racket sports in San Antonio.”
On Saturdays, close to 100 pickleball players hit the courts at Fairchild Park, paddles in hand and socializing with neighbors and members of the San Antonio Pickleball Association.
The two parking lots overflow onto nearby streets on busy evenings said Jaime Rowan, a nearby resident who got into pickleball during the COVID-19 pandemic. As you walk into the parking lots, the sound of balls hitting the paddles buzzes inside the walls of the tennis courts.
How long the wait is can be figured out by the number of paddles stacked along the courts.
The wait isn’t all bad, but pickleball players say they don’t like to watch more than they play.
“The sunsets there are gorgeous, especially when you’re on the lower courts,” Rowan said. “We’ll have the most beautiful sunsets with the downtown skyline behind us.”
Neighbors that live in the homes that line North Pine Street don’t complain about the pickleball noise since the courts are far away from residents’ front doors, said Waddell and Rowan, who both live on streets surrounding the park.
Along the other side of the courts, a cemetery surrounds the park. “And they don’t complain,” Rowan said.
The Fairchild pickleballers are thrilled with the extended hours, the group said. Their only request now would be for the city to create an elevated seating area on an empty area between all the courts — for while they wait.
