Tennis has been part of Carl Back’s life since he was a child, starting in elementary school. He remembers visiting his parents on Marco Island in the ’80s and playing recreationally there, along with where he used to live in Connecticut and Massachusetts. Back moved to Marco Island six years ago but has been a member of its club for a decade. Now, he and other tennis players may have to find another home court.  

In October, the Marco Island City Council approved design plans for Phase 1 of reconstructing the city-owned racquet club. The $786,000 project will involve removing two clay tennis courts and replacing them with eight pickleball courts. If funded, Phase 2 will remove the tennis courts entirely, making room for 24 pickleball courts.

Back thinks it’s a money game for the city of Marco Island. There are 405 pickleball members at the racquet club with 430 people on the waiting list. There are about 80 tennis members with more openings available at the club. A tennis membership costs $360, more than double the cost of a $180 pickleball membership, but clay tennis courts cost about $5,000 a year to maintain, whereas a pickleball court can last about five years before it needs to be resurfaced. 

“I mean, I can’t fault them for that, because there’s certainly a high demand for pickleball,” Back said.

He has noticed the rising interest in pickleball, and has seen firsthand the effect the sporting craze has on the tennis community.

“I would say probably four years ago is when pickleball really started to take off, and with every year since that time, it’s sped up exponentially,” he said.

Marco Island Racquet Club lead teaching pickleball pro Peter Prodanov said that during the past two years, the tennis courts have been full fewer than five times. He said he stopped going to the club for tennis in 2015 and joined the Marco Island YMCA for tennis, to be around a larger group of players.

“Even back then, before there was pickleball, there wasn’t a ton of tennis going on,” he said. “It’s very rare to have all the courts full.” 

Prodanov said pickleball allows players of different skill levels to play with each other, something that’s difficult to achieve in tennis. 

Racquetball also feeling effects  

With the Marco Island Racquet Club’s additional pickleball courts will come the demolition of the island’s only two racquetball courts. 

Racquetball was especially popular in the ’70s, with more than three million players. Some still enjoy playing—Suzanne Bailey has been playing weekly for more than 20 years. 

“I don’t even feel like we had a voice at all,” Bailey said. “When you go to sign in, you don’t even have a slot for racquetball players. I have to write ‘racquetball’ next to my name.”

Switching from tennis to pickleball 

Former competitive tennis players such as Ryan Reader are taking advantage of the SWFL pickleball boom. Reader moved to Estero 10 years ago and found a pickleball court in a nearby gym.

“These people were in the gym playing this game I never saw before,” he said. “And they were the nicest people in the world, and then just, boom, I got connected with pickleball.”

Reader has switched from tennis to a pickleball lifestyle as the co-owner of Paradise Pickleball and GOAT Paddle. He’s instructed more than 15,000 hours of pickleball in addition to being a U.S Open Champion. He said he loves the inclusiveness of the sport.

“It’s the level of connectivity where you could be from the land of misfits, or you could own a private jet, and you’ll be on the same court having a good time,” Reader said. 

Zach Higginson, co-owner of Paradise Pickleball and GOAT Paddle, was born and raised in Southwest Florida and started playing pickleball around six years ago. He grew up playing lots of different sports with his 11 siblings. He’s long been drawn to racquet sports, and was immediately drawn to the play style of pickleball. 

“When I was introduced to pickleball, I was like, ‘There’s finally something that combines all my favorite things into one,’” Higginson said. “It’s perfect for me, because everything I’m good at is right here.”

Fewer barriers for beginning pickleball players compared to tennis could be why it has grown more than 15% since 2020 to an estimate of almost 5 million players, making it the fastest growing sport in the world, according to a report from the Sports & Fitness Industry Association. However, those new to pickleball should be aware of the misconception that injuries are less likely in pickleball than tennis.

Pickleball capital of the world 

Southwest Florida has earned the title of pickleball capital of the world as it continues to shine over other racket sports. However, players who are involved in leagues throughout the area, such as Mercedes Baumann, don’t see pickleball as a threat to tennis and will continue to stay loyal to the sport she grew up to love.

“I’ve seen some of my friends that play tennis also play pickleball so they’re able to do both, but I really haven’t seen it impacting where people have actually given up on tennis to go to pickleball within my circle of friends,” Baumann said.

Back, who said he will likely find himself traveling from Marco more to the Naples area for tennis, plans to stay loyal to the sport that has been a part of his life since childhood. 

“I just like the fact that tennis has been around so long,” Back said. “It certainly has a lot more longevity in history.”     

By the Numbers:     

• Believed to have been around since the 12th century, the sport of tennis has grown in Florida more than 7% each year since 2015, according to the United States Tennis Association    
• In 2022, tennis participation reached a total of more than 22 million players, with almost 2 million of those being in Florida, according to the United States Tennis Association    
• More than 1,500 new pickleball locations were added to the USA Pickleball database in 2022  
• The amount of pickleball players has grown an average of 11.5% annually in the past five years, according to USA Pickleball

This story was originally published in the Nov. 10 edition of The Naples Press