Richland County cuts ribbon for Blythewood Park pickleball courts

BLYTHEWOOD – The ribbon was cut for the newest pickleball court in Blythewood on Thursday, July 10.                     

Located at the Richland County Recreation Center’s Blythewood Park at 126 Boney Road in Blythewood, the six pickleball courts rose like a phoenix from the park’s former tennis courts.

While a light rain moved the formal part of the ceremony inside the Blythewood Park gym, the weather cleared in time for an outdoor ribbon cutting before a crowd of community members and pickleballers ready to play.

Officials from Richland County and the Town of Blythewood were joined by State Senator Overture Walker to show off the new courts.

Recreation Commission Executive Director Touris Lewis welcomed guests and introduced the Commission’s Deputy Director of Operations Anthony Cooper, who talked about the project. Also speaking from the dais were Blythewood Mayor Sloan Griffin, Blythewood’s County Council Representative Derrek Pugh, and the Commission’s Head Tennis Professional Shauna Williams. Recreation Commissioner D’Andrea Outten-Brown thanked those attending and encouraged them to take part in the offerings made possible through the park.

Following the welcome and speeches, commissioners and guests moved outside to the pickleball courts.

Lewis and Pugh shared the ribbon cutting honors and, after a photo op of all the officials, games began in earnest. All six courts were quickly filled with a total of 24 enthusiastic players, including some of the local elected officials.

The courts will be available to the community and will also be used for events and tournaments.

“For the month of July, anyone can use the courts free by calling the Park so they can set up access,” said Assistant Supervisor of Athletics Jeff Sowell. “After that, we’ll mainly be offering memberships at the park for court time. We’ll be rolling this option out in the beginning of August.

“Right now, we just want everyone to come out and enjoy playing pickleball,” he said. “Membership in Blythewood allows you to play on all the other Richland County Recreation pickleball courts as well – some other parks have only three courts.

“The colorful blue and green soft mat that covers the courts is porous so that rain doesn’t pool or make the concrete base slippery,” Sowell said. “These are tournament rated courts. It’s very nice. Up to 24 people can play on the six courts at a time. There’s a player bench outside the fence and we’re looking at adding paddle holders.”

Sowell said there is one more step.

“In the next couple of months, we plan to install wind screens on the fence that will help keep the wind from blowing the balls,” Sowell said.

“The pickle ball community is great,” Sowell said. “We’ll have a lot of advanced players, of course, but we’ll also have instructors available for some beginner classes.  We just hope everyone will come out – no matter their experience playing pickleball – and get a feel for it. It’s lots of fun for most all ages.”