In Brief
- 🏓 Hundreds of people signed a petition calling for the return of senior-only pickleball hours at the Niceville Senior Center after the courts were opened to the public on May 1, arguing the dedicated hours provide a safer and more comfortable environment for older players.
- ⚠️ Senior Center members raised safety concerns, saying younger players bring faster-paced games that increase injury risks and an increase in litter and vandalism around the courts.
- 🤝 City officials defended the policy change as a response to overcrowding at the Senior Center and noted that seniors and younger players generally use the courts at different times. City Manager David Deitch proposed a compromise of senior-only court hours from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. while discussions continue.
A petition to reinstate senior citizen-only hours at the Niceville Senior Center’s pickleball courts garnered hundreds of signatures and sparked community conversation after the Recreation Department took over management and opened the courts for public use on May 1.
The change.org petition, created by Lisa van den Woldenberg, argues that “senior hours were instituted to provide a safe and accommodating environment for older adults who may feel uncomfortable or challenged competing for playing time at open play periods.”
Julie Mooney, director of the Senior Center, said the pickleball policy change was enacted to help solve capacity issues.
“We are at a point now where we are at critical mass,” she said. “We are turning people away from classes, we are full. I love you guys, I want every one of you here. I am not picking on pickleball players because I don’t like you. I’m picking on you because you are physically not in the building. That is the only thing in my head. Pickleball isn’t in the building. I have to limit somehow. I have got to limit membership, or we’re all going down.”
Petitioners at the Niceville City Council meeting on June 10 argued that allowing younger people to play pickleball alongside the seniors poses a safety risk.
“Playing pickleball on courts adjacent to younger players introduces several risks for seniors, primarily stemming from physical proximity, spatial distractions and drastically different paces of gameplay,” Catherine Hargrave, member of the Senior Center, said. “Younger players often play faster, more aggressive and loud. The proximity of loud rapid play can disrupt a senior’s focus, reaction time and balance, increasing the likelihood of unforced errors, slips and falls. Faster-paced games on adjacent courts can result in balls rolling into [a]senior’s court, stepping on a loose ball during a lunge, or a quick pivot is a major trip accident that frequently results in wrist sprains and fractures.”
Niceville City Manager David Deitch said since the courts were opened to the public on May 1, he’s noticed seniors don’t typically use the courts at the same times as younger people.
“I have been driving by the Senior Center at various times in the mornings — sometimes in the afternoon, but generally in the mornings, Monday thru Friday at various times,” Deitch said. “There’s two conclusions I’ve reached based on these observations: Number one, in the morning hours, say between 7 and 10:30, the only people playing are seniors, and during those times there are generally always open courts.”
As part of this initiative, the gates connecting the pickleball courts to the senior center were locked. The courts are now only accessible from Campbell Drive, according to the Niceville Senior Center’s Facebook post.
Pulmonary critical care physician John Koszuta said this poses even more risk to senior citizens.
“If somebody is sick, they’re having heat stroke, we used to be able to send them into the Senior Center to get cooled off, air-conditioned, get some fluids,” he said. “Now the only choice we really have is to send someone across the way to the skate park on a concrete floor where it’s not air-conditioned.”
Senior Center member Carol Whited said pickleballers have noticed more litter and trashed courts since they were opened for public use.
“On Monday mornings, when we come after all the kids have been there doing whatever they want to do on the weekends, it’s now becoming every day there’s gum, condoms, beer bottles, trash, drawings — You’re only talking about pickleball; that’s not the whole issue.”
Attendees also argued that the courts were originally built specifically for the Senior Center, but Deitch said there is no evidence to support this claim.
“We looked at our financial records around the time when the Senior Center was built, the pickleball courts were built, the backyard was built, we looked at the finance records, we looked at meeting minutes, we looked at agenda items. There’s no record of that being true.”
Deitch said Niceville residents who helped pay for the pickleball courts deserve to use them.
“That facility was built with taxpayer dollars, okay?” he said. “And for non-residents to come in here and make demands, I think that pisses off a lot of people, city taxpayers, right? That’s not fair, because they pay for it.”
Concluding the discussion, Deitch proposed a compromise that would implement senior-only hours on the pickleball courts from 8:30-12:30 p.m. He asked meeting attendees to work on a written proposal.
“I’m willing to work with you,” he said. “You have to be willing to work with me, because I don’t just represent you. I do, I represent most of you, right? But I don’t just represent you and there are other interests in this community that I have to represent, that the council has to represent, that the mayor has to represent. We have to represent everybody and make the best possible decision we can for the entire group, so I’m asking in good faith, work with Cat to make a genuine, legitimate proposal that works for your interest but the interest for others as well.”
Mooney emphasized that the pickleball courts opening to the public is not the only action the Senior Center will take to limit capacity. She said she plans to raise the age limit for membership at the center from 55 to 65 years old and continue a dialogue with members to help with staffing and building upkeep.
“It’s just the first step,” Mooney said. “It’s the first step of a bunch of steps that I’m probably going to take that is going to make every one of you wonder, like, where do I get these ideas? I don’t know. We’re just trying to make the best of a situation right now.”
