On just about any given day, one can find dozens of people playing pickleball at the Long Beach Senior Center.
“Everybody in the community can participate in pickleball games here,” says Courtney Cuevas, community affairs director for the City of Long Beach. “If you are a single player, you are more than welcome to come in. They have people who meet up and do teams together. If you already have a permanent team that you are comfortable playing with, you can come in.”
To say pickleball has become a popular sport in South Mississippi would be an understatement.
“Pickleball is like a miniature tennis, and tennis has always been popular, and will continue to be popular,” Cuevas says. “I don’t know what created the whole pickleball drive, but it’s making more people in the community get active.”
Those who are approaching or now living in their “golden years” are no exception. Pickleball is one of the most popular activities at the Senior Center.
“It [pickleball] doesn’t involve as much running as tennis, so I think this is just one reason why members of our senior citizen community are able to play it. It’s a closer-knit court, and it’s easier to move around and hit the ball. Pickleball also uses a smaller racquet than tennis,” Cuevas says.
Mark Bridges is a regular on the Senior Center pickleball courts and, as a Pass Christian resident, crosses city lines to play. An experienced player, the avid competitor has done more than his fair share of research off-court, too.
“It’s a cross between ping-pong and tennis,” Bridges says. “They say ping-pong players make the best pickleball players. It’s all in the way that you stroke the ball, just having that aptitude takes you a long way in this game. A lot of the other stuff, like strategy and where to place yourself on the court, is more like tennis. It’s mostly a doubles game, especially at our age.”
Networking and socializing are just a few of the benefits of playing pickleball, according to the AARP. Pickleball affords not only much-needed physical activity to stay in shape, but also sharpens the mind. Studies have proven that playing pickleball enhances brain function and helps prevent memory loss and cognitive decline, while also reducing anxiety and depression-related behaviors.
While competition can be fierce and often no mercy is shown even to friends on the courts, many friendships have been forged playing pickleball.
“We didn’t win, but it was still a good game,” said Joni Maloy, after wrapping up a game of pickleball at the Senior Center in mid-March. “I think pickleball is a very social sport, which I don’t think you can say about any other sport.”
“It’s true,” Bridges says. “The people here are friendly. They – we - enjoy the company and the social aspect of it [pickleball]. It’s something we need.”
According to the 2022 Sports & Industry report, more than half (52 percent) of core players – those who play eight or more times a year – are 55 or older, and almost a third (32.7 percent) are 65-plus.
Bridges can be seen almost daily playing pickleball at the Senior Center, a spot he considers one of the best for pickleball in the area.
“You’re indoors,” Bridges says. “It’s climate-controlled. For me, having played tennis for fifty years on hard courts, my knees are about gone, so these are rubberized floors. They’re a lot more forgiving than concrete or a lot of other surfaces around, unless you can get on a good basketball wooden floor.”
With the sport of pickleball growing in popularity across the U.S., players here in South Mississippi say they would like to see its venues expand in the local area, as well.
“A lot of the community wants to be able to play pickleball outside, so there’s a community push to create and fund this,” Cuevas says. “They are doing a Go Fund Me right now to get the community involvement, and they are hoping to put it on the slab at the St. Patrick’s Park on Magnolia Street.”
While a fundraising drive is underway, Long Beach city leaders have already shown their support for the project at Board of Aldermen meetings this year, unanimously voting to allow Lance Strayhan to make improvements to the slab at St. Patrick’s Park. The improvements include paint and purchasing a net to be able to utilize the site as a pickleball court. All improvements will be coordinated through the City of Long Beach’s Recreation Director, Bob Paul.
For more information about playing pickleball at the Long Beach Senior Center, call 228-868-7517, or visit the City of Long Beach’s website at CityOfLongBeachMS.info.
The Long Beach Senior Center is located at 20257 Daugherty Road and is open Monday through Friday, 7 a.m. to 3 p.m.
