By LYNETTE HAALAND, Four Points News
The Steiner Ranch Master Association voted to convert a tennis court into new pickleball courts at the Bella Mar recreational facility. The project is expected to happen by mid October, according to Amy Yukich, SRMA president.
“In response to growing interest and enthusiasm for pickleball, the SRMA Board of Directors has voted to convert court 1 into 3 – 4 dedicated pickleball courts,” an email from SRMA states.
Feedback at the April 17 town hall gave the board direction on what to do because both tennis and pickleball groups voiced concerns about the limited court space in Steiner.
“It’s a victory for the pickleball community that have been playing on tennis nets and have not had dedicated courts available to them,” shared the spokesperson from the pickleball community in Steiner.
Steiner pickleball players have been asking for dedicated courts for some time. The community has eight tennis courts with six in the SRMA.
Local tennis players frequently use the courts and, in general, many have not wanted to give up any courts to be dedicated to the newly popular pickleball sport. The tennis community has a long history and they are organized with teams and league play.
“Increasing the number of total courts available to be used by both pickleball and tennis players is a win for the community at large” he said. “Not to mention this will reduce the amount of pickleball being played on tennis courts.”
“According to data pulled from the YourCourts app used by residents to book courts, for every reservation that tennis players are losing in Bella Mar they are gaining in Towne Square,” the pickleball community spokesperson said.
After the conversion, pickleball players will not be able to play on the tennis courts like they have been used to.
“The idea was that the two sports would be entirely separate,” Yukich said. “Unfortunately there was so much arguing amongst residents, the board felt that by making it separate, it would relieve some of the stress.”
There have been concerns posted on social media that HOA money is going into creating pickleball courts instead of going into landscaping. But a spokesperson within the pickleball community says that this repainting and restriping is costing about the same as the routine maintenance.
Regular resurfacing maintenance was scheduled for the SRMA tennis courts this year. The Towne Square tennis courts were resurfaced earlier this year. The Bella Mar resurfacing was on hold while the board considered what, if any, changes should be made after the town hall.
Currently quotes are being gathered to resurface and restripe the court 1. So far the lowest quote gathered is $25,000 and that company has completed similar court conversions at Veterans Memorial Park in Cedar Park.
“The project’s viability will be assessed at 3 and again at 6 months after completion,” according to SRMA. “During this time, the association will conduct land surveys and commission a civil engineer analysis of potential for additional enhancements to the community.”