Last year, Mark McDonald learned just how tight-knit San Antonio’s pickleball community could be when his then-fiancé suffered pregnancy complications that ended the pregnancy.
The same day, McDonald, who coaches the sport, was scheduled to participate in a tournament and intended to cancel. Although he originally planned to remain quiet about the reason, emotion got the better of him, and he told the owners of the site holding the tournament about the heartbreaking loss of his unborn son.
“Within 20 minutes, I had everybody reaching out to me in the community, asking, ‘What can we do?’ ‘Are you alright?’ ‘Anything you need, let us know,’” McDonald said. “The community came together. There were some that I didn’t even talk to on a daily basis who reached out.”
Fans of the fast-growing sport remember the days before the pandemic, when pickleball-focused bar and restaurant chain Chicken N Pickle, 5215 UTSA Boulevard, was one of the few options for top-quality courts and players often had to drive across town for a court.
Since then, San Antonio’s pickleball scene has grown to 200 courts spread across 29 venues, according to the website courtsource.us. The city offers a mix of free municipal courts in addition to commercial ones. Additionally, 12 venues offer indoor courts for year-round play.
That brisk growth mirrors a national trend.
Source: https://www.sacurrent.com/arts/sports-and-recreation/new-venues-and-a-sense-of-community-are-fueling-pickleballs-rapid-rise-in-san-antonio/