Chapel Hill’s 1st indoor pickleball center opens in February. Here’s what we know.
The story was updated Dec. 18, 2023.
Kyle Murphy watched the game unfolding on the Ephesus Park court in Chapel Hill closely as the four men, in teams of two, darted forward and back, side to side, in a spirited battle for pickleball points.
They were young and athletic, assuming aggressive stances. Their serves floated on the air, being returned with rapid and furious force until one team reached 11 points to win.
Other players on adjacent courts competed at a more leisurely pace, playing for fun and fitness instead of sport.
A friend got him into pickleball over the summer, and he loved it from the start, said Murphy, 20.
The Ephesus courts are always busy, even in colder weather, and at least 40 people are playing or waiting for a spot most evenings, he said. It’s common for players to ask a bystander if they want to join.
“It can be really intimidating at first, when everyone’s a beginner,” Murphy said. “I remember the first couple of matches I played, I was so scared, because I wasn’t that good, but everyone was super nice to me. I just felt so welcome. You just gotta go for it, because it’s so much fun.”
Indoor pickleball in Chapel Hill
If “badminton and tennis had a baby,” that would be pickleball, said Lane Ethridge, a certified pro instructor and co-owner of Chapel Hill’s new Pickles and Play center opening on Millhouse Road in February.
“The cool thing about this sport is you can do whatever you want within it,” Ethridge said. “It’s probably the most addicting thing you will ever do, in a healthy way, and because of that, it’s cool for me as a coach and an owner to see the development of people and their love and passion for it.”
The game is played on a smaller court with a paddle instead of a racket and a small plastic ball. It has a dedicated following, with over 48 million players nationwide, according to the Association of Pickleball Professionals. Most are 55 and older, but the game started as a way to bring the whole family together, and young adults and children are helping to grow the ranks by 35% a year, the group said.
Pickleball could become an Olympic sport one day, Ethridge said.
That’s making it harder for fans to find time and space to play, a frustration that led him and his partners to open the first Pickles and Play in Wake Forest earlier this year. That location already has 350 members, he said.
The 7310 Millhouse Road center will be near a future Putt-Putt Fun Center and the UNC Hockey Booster Club’s 2,000-seat ice arena at Carraway Village. It’s opening after years spent looking for a space that was affordable, large enough and easy to upfit, Ethridge said.
Chapel Hill’s Pickles and Play will be 18,000 square feet with seven 20-by-44-foot courts, and an area where folks can watch the action and socialize with friends. The floor is a 9 mm thick rubber cushion to absorb some of the impact to players’ joints, Ethridge said.
It will employ roughly a dozen people, he said.
Although Chapel Hill, Durham and other cities are retrofitting existing tennis courts, Pickles and Play is the first in the Triangle to offer dedicated, indoor courts, Ethridge said. The goal is to become an elite training facility with livestream lessons, in-person classes and camps. Future locations will present opportunities for regional and Major League Pickleball tournaments, he said.
It’s exciting how pickleball brings together people at different ages and skill levels, but “never underestimate anybody on the other side of the net,” Ethridge cautioned.
“I could go up against a 90-year-old woman or a 250-pound guy, and it doesn’t matter,” he said. “There’s no typical body type, and that’s why this sport is so fun, because everybody can play together.”
Meeting people, learning through play
Sandy Padden, 62, paid her Pickles and Play initiation fee earlier this month. She’s been playing for about 18 months and loves the game, Padden said after a match against her 67-year-old friend Judy Israel at Ephesus Park.
The sport is a great way to meet people and get outside, Israel said. Padden agreed, saying the opportunity to play against less-skilled opponents also gives her an opportunity to practice different shots and placement, instead of just reacting to the ball.
“When she’s playing with upper levels, she’s just trying to survive,” Israel said.
Communicating with your partner and following the ball, especially when players volley at the kitchen line, can be challenging, Padden said. The kitchen, she explained, is the space on each side of the net where players can only hit the ball if it bounces. Outside the kitchen, shots can be returned while still in the air.
“You can’t hit the ball in the air when you’re in the kitchen, because imagine if I step in the kitchen and slam it right at you, I’d be smashing you in the face, so you have to let it bounce,” Padden said. “If it bounces in the kitchen, you can step in and knock it over.”
Anticipating where the ball will go has been challenging for her, Israel said.
“I’m fit. I’ve hiked and biked all my life, but I don’t play sports,” Israel said. Pickleball “is the only sport I’m doing where I am on a court, I have a partner, there’s etiquette. It’s a different gig ... than just being fit.”
What you need to know
▪ Members are signing up now for Chapel Hill’s Pickles and Play, and the doors open in February..
▪ There is a one-time, $100 initiation fee for members, who will have access to other Pickles and Play locations as they expand.
▪ There are several membership tiers, ranging from $89 to $185 a month.
▪ The center will be open from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Saturday, and from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sunday.
Find more information on the Pickles and Play website.
This story was originally published December 18, 2023 at 7:30 AM with the headline "Chapel Hill’s 1st indoor pickleball center opens in February. Here’s what we know.."
CORRECTION: The story incorrectly stated Pickles and Play would open on Jan. 1. The facility will open in February.
