This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2014, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Salt Lake City's move to sweep tennis off the public courts and replace it with pickleball is a bad dill. Without any public conversation, the city is restriping and lowering nets on courts around town to make way for a sport with an unproven track record ("Pickleball goes outdoors in Salt Lake City," Tribune, July 19, 2012).
A test court or two may make sense to gauge public interest in pickleball, but conversion of dozens of popular tennis courts all at once is not in the best interest of tennis fans, young and old. Parks and Recreation is behind this effort. Lob an email to them at parks@slcgov.com and hit a passing shot to your City Council member at council.comments@slcgov.com to let them know how you feel.
John Becker
Salt Lake City