BOCA RATON, Fla. — The Boca Raton Beach and Parks District recently decided they will build more pickleball courts in the city.
The courts are being built at Patch Reef Park, located at 2000 Yamato Road. The parks department is converting two of the 17 tennis courts currently at the park.
The tennis-style game played on a smaller court is billed as one of the fastest-growing sports in the country.
There will now be four pickleball courts at Patch Reef Park.
The total cost of the project is $25,000.
The district is currently designing plans to get the courts open in the next few months, but an exact timeline has not been established.
Cyl Ciliberti said he plays pickleball at Hillsboro Rio Park four to five times a week.
The growing popularity of the sport has created a demand for more courts.
"The courts get full, and it is probably around lunchtime before they don't have people," Golden said. "The more pickleball courts they add, the more fun we can have."
Maura Abad and her group play tennis together and started to pick up the pickleball paddle.
"This is another fun thing to do," said Abad.
Ciliberti said the new courts at Patch Reef Park will be closer to his home on the other side of Boca Raton
"It would be great to have more real close," Ciliberti said.
"It means more people get to play on a regular basis, and it's more exposure," added Golden.