El Paso restaurateur Alejandro Orozco and El Paso lawyer Joseph Isaac got the pickleball bug while traveling to other cities.
So, they became partners in a planned pickleball venue similar to ones they’ve played at in other parts of Texas.
The complex, to be named Serve, is to have four indoor and four outdoor pickleball courts, one paddleball court, a full-service restaurant/bar, and rooms for private events near West Towne Marketplace in a booming area of West El Paso.
Serve and another pickleball entertainment complex planned by other entrepreneurs in the Montecillo Smart Growth community in West-Central El Paso would help fill a void in a pickleball-court-starved city.
“I think they’re going to get a great response. Of course, it’s going to be crucial how much they are going to charge,” said Jamie Fisher, founder and president of the Pickleball El Paso Association.
The planned commercial ventures would be great for El Paso, which is in dire need of pickleball courts, she said.
What is pickleball?
Pickleball is an easy-to-learn, accessible racquet sport that relies on reaction time, precision and strategy to win. According to Sports Imports, the game combines elements of ping-pong, tennis and badminton.
Two different pickleball venues planned
Serve’s construction is expected to begin early in 2024 and completed by the end of the year, said Maricarmen Ramos, controller for Orozco’s Triple A Restaurant Group, which operates the iconic Cafe Central in Downtown El Paso and several other El Paso restaurants. Serve would be near Triple A’s newest West Texas Chophouse at 7723 Paseo del Norte Blvd.
Plans also were announced earlier this year for a 10-pickleball court complex with a restaurant and areas for concerts and special events near Top Golf in Montecillo. Construction has not yet started.
Triple Tap Ventures, the Houston company that owns the two Alamo Drafthouse Cinemas in El Paso, is partnering with EPT Land Communities, the Montecillo developer, for the venture.
Also, Tennis West, a private club in the Upper Valley, recently added two outdoor pickleball courts.
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El Paso short of pickleball courts
The Pickleball El Paso Association’s Fisher said El Paso is far behind other areas of the country when it comes to the the number of pickleball courts.
El Paso only has four dedicated, public pickleball courts, opened in late 2022 at county-operated Ascarate Park in the Lower Valley, she said. Several city-operated tennis courts and gyms have makeshift pickleball courts.
Tucson, Albuquerque and Las Cruces have many dedicated, public pickleball courts, Fisher noted.
Fisher, a retired teacher who started playing pickleball five years ago after having to give up tennis, formed the association to lobby El Paso government officials to build dedicated, public pickleball courts.
A lot of tennis players are switching to pickleball “because it’s less stressful on the body since the court’s smaller, the paddle’s lighter, and you don’t have an overhand serve,” she said.
It’s much easier to learn how to play pickleball than tennis, Fisher said.
The sport, played with small paddles and a plastic ball, has elements of tennis, ping-pong, and bandmitton. It’s played on a small court with a low net. About four picketball courts can fit on a tennis court, Fisher said.
Pickleball popularity rapidly growing
The number of pickleball players has rapidly grown in recent years, with almost 9 million players in the United States in 2022, the Sports & Fitness Industry Association reported. It had an early reputation as a sport for senior citizens, but the 25-34 age group had the most players in 2022, the association reported.
El Paso has a vibrant community of work-age pickleball players, but they have a hard time finding places to play in their off-work hours, Fisher said.
More: Pickleball’s popularity grows among active seniors in El Paso
Besides public courts, some fledgling companies are opening pickleball entertainment locations in several cities, including in Texas. Those chains include: Kansas City, Missouri-based Chicken N Pickle, South Carolina-based Crush Yard, and Denver-based Camp Pickle. Also, one of the largest pickleball complexes in the United States is being built in the Phoenix area by a new company, Pure Pickleball.
Triple A’s Ramos said El Paso can support more than one pickleball entertainment venue. Orozco, the Triple A owner, plans to build another El Paso venue if the first one succeeds, she said.
Vic Kolenc may be reached at 546-6421; [email protected]; @vickolenc on Twitter, now known as X.
USA Today contributed to this report.
