Image of proposed Pickleball addition.
From PR.com
Peninsula Tennis Club President Todd Sprague, presented two conceptual plans for facility improvements at Robb Field at the Mission Bay Park Committee meeting held on October 4, 2022.
The first concept is for improving and enhancing the existing Peninsula Tennis Club.
“Peninsula is an older club and is due for a refresh that will enhance the player experience,” said Sprague.
The conceptual plan for Peninsula Tennis Club will improve the player experience by increasing the spacing between the tennis courts, building a new clubhouse, adding a drop off lane that can be used by multiple sports, and increasing the amount of parking at Robb Field near the club.
The improvements also call for adding four padel courts and a seating and play area. Padel is the fastest growing racquet sport in the world, and has gained a large following on the courts at Barnes Tennis Center.
Image of Proposed Peninsula Tennis Club facility enhancements
The second concept that was presented was for a dedicated pickleball center at Robb Field.
The proposed concept would take an unused area at Robb Field and transform it to a new pickleball center with 14 dedicated pickleball courts and a clubhouse. Pickleball is a rapidly growing racquet sport in the United States, and there is a need for dedicated pickleball facilities in City parks to meet the increasing demand.
At the same time, tennis has seen growth and resurgence of nearly 5 million players during the pandemic, and there are now over 22.5 million tennis players in the US, and over 90 million worldwide. Tennis’ popularity has grown in San Diego resulting in greater demand for recreational league teams and waitlists for membership at local public park clubs.
Further evidence of tennis’ popularity in San Diego includes Barnes Tennis Center recent hosting of a professional men’s ATP 250 tournament and its current hosting of a women’s professional WTA 500 tournament with 16 of the top 20 ranked professional women in the world playing in the event.
“Tennis, padel and pickleball need quality facilities to meet the increasing public demand for these activities in public parks,” said Sprague. “The presented concepts provide solutions to address the needs of these racquet sports at Robb Field.”
The proposed improvements will be subject to the City of San Diego’s Parks and Recreation planning process, which includes public participation workshops. This process will provide opportunities for input from these racquet sport communities and other stakeholders at Robb Field.
For more info, contact Peninsula Tennis Club, Todd Sprague – https://www.peninsulatennis.org/
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
All of this was covered in the November 4 Rag story about the Mission Bay Park Committee meeting. This piece makes it sound like the tennis club is being generous with this idea and design. But, what it is really saying is no to pickleball on the existing courts. It is saying pickleball can be on a separate facility approved by the city and funded, somehow. It is an empty gesture and does nothing to solve the tennis v. pickleball problem.
This is a statement from the Peninsula Tennis Club.
This is completely disingenuous. PTC is completely anti-pickleball and has no business proposing a pickleball plan for Robb. Also, there is no great demand for padel courts, which further proves the dishonesty of this plan.