The Wellesley Recreation Commission has scheduled a meeting on Friday, March 3 at 8am during which it is slated to hear from the public on the pickleball and tennis courts at Sprague Field. The agenda item is listed as “Public input: Sprague sport courts: tennis & pickleball.”
If you wish to take part in citizen speak or comment on any other agenda item, email recreation@wellesleyma.gov.
Wellesley is of course not alone in seeing a rise in pickleball popularity. That popularity in Wellesley has prompted various town bodies (Recreation, Natural Resources Commission, School Committee) to respond by making more court time available indoors and by carving out places to play on existing outdoor sports courts, such as at Sprague Fields and Perrin Park.
The rise of pickleball has presented some territorial challenges, as the pickleball players share space previously used only for tennis or basketball, and the town has attempted to manage this situation by using an online reservation system. But this hearing was prompted more by complaints from the Sprague court neighbors, who say the game—in which players smack plastic balls with their paddles—is too loud and should be located on fields further away from homes.
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I learned a bit last year about neighborhoods’ objections to, and players’ enthusiastic support of, pickleball by watching a 15-minute segment on “Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel.” It’s Season 28, Episode 10, still streaming on HBO Max. Pickleball still isn’t my sport, but I came to understand its pros/cons a little better. HBO’s world-class audio engineering helped to capture the noise issue quite well.
Hello,
I have commented in the Jan 3, 2023 issue of the Swellesley Report on Pickeleball Noise and its intrusive effect on nearby residents. I would like to present a definitive report by a Principal Acoustical Engineer, Phd, on the impact of noise on surrounding homes.
Please note the provided link, pg 5 Effects of Impulsive Sound, explaining why the noise peculiar to pickleball has a psychological effect on the human mind and the stress and cardiovascular effect it can bring to surrounding residents. Please look at the picture in this article. Why are the quality of life rights of an effected minority overridden by adamant pickleball players?
https://legistarweb-production.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/attachment/pdf/1251156/Willis_Letter_7_23_2021.pdf
Awww……you poor Welleslians….Try living in Medway where we’ve had a three year construction project of a condo being built from scratch twenty feet away from our apartment. And there are no noise ordinances in Medway either. Hammering from dusk to dawn, even on Sundays. Try that.
All I can say is OMG! They believe this is loud! What about the Hunnewell field neighbors who would be dealing with cars, traffic, bands, cheerleading, a sound system at 80 decibels, fans cheering. All 35 yards from houses! If the sound from a plastic ball is a problem, which I believe it most likely is then I cannot see how townspeople would be so callous and selfish to put stadium lighting across the street from homes. In a highly populated area.
When there are alternatives!!! Where has civility, compassion, and kindness gone? Are we really going to indulge & teach entitlement to our children?
“Let there be light”. is going to be let the torture begin. Night here they come……