Irrigon Pickleball Club Invites Public to Attend Dedication of New Courts

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The Irrigon Pickleball Club is holding a ribbon-cutting ceremony Nov. 9, 2024, at 1 p.m. for the grand opening of the Irrigon Community Courts east of Marina Park off Northeast 12th Street. (Photo courtesy of Bobbie Veatch)

A new pickleball court has surfaced in Irrigon.

The Irrigon Pickleball Club is holding a ribbon-cutting ceremony Saturday, Nov. 9, at 1 p.m. for the grand opening of Irrigon Community Courts, east of Marina Park off Northeast 12th Street.

Irrigon Pickleball Club Vice President Bobbie Veatch said the event will provide free hot dogs, sides, cake, water and a demonstration for people who are interested to learn how to play the game.

“We are so happy with all the support,” Veatch said. “We ask everybody to come down and join us in this wonderful celebration.”

The local picklehead players first started hosting games in 2013 at A.C. Houghton Elementary School with five to eight players. Through the years more athletes joined the group, and in 2018 they formed the Irrigon Pickleball Club.

“I enjoy the team, the competitiveness, the teamwork and the sport,” Veatch said. “We have players of all ages that can play from teenagers up to 83.”

Veatch said the club has 55 members. As the number of tournaments and players grew, Veatch added, the pickleball group needed better turf to play.

The club decided to start raising funds to build a pickleball court, Veatch said.

“We started collecting bottles and cans,” she said. “We did plant and garage sales. We went out and asked for donations. And throughout all that, I mean, we didn’t know how much they were going to cost. We raised up to $12,000.”

The club  recognized it needed a significantly larger amount of funding to get a pickleball court built.

Veatch said it had occurred to the group that Morrow County Unified Recreation District (MCURD) offers grants that promote the recreational community.

The MCURD helps fund programs and projects that support the recreational and cultural activities of Morrow County residents. Their community projects included music in the park, public theater, public museum education programs, athletic programs and more.

The pickleball group banded together with the Irrigon Park and Recreational District to draw up a presentation to propose to the MCURD board.

On the day of the presentation, in June 2023, MCURD awarded a $157,000 grant to Irrigon Park Recreation District for the Irrigon pickleball court project.

“We all came out, just stunned,” Veatch said. “We were so elated and excited and stunned at the same time. We couldn’t even believe it. We worked so hard for this.”

Rock Enterprise construction broke ground in October 2023 and completed the project Nov. 6, Veatch said.

Veatch said the Irrigion Pickleball Club used the $12,000 funds they raised for nets, poles, balls and other miscellaneous items.

Irrigon Community Courts has two pickleball courts and is free and open to the public.

Information about the Irrigon Pickleball Club is available on the club’s Facebook page.

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