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Pickleballers Request Changes to Buffalo Tennis Courts
Local pickleball players in Buffalo have made a request of the city council to make changes to the shared tennis/pickleball courts in Washington Park to make it easier for pickleballers to see their courts.
What is being asked is for the city to allow paint schemes for pickleball to be more prominent. Not to remove tennis players from using the courts, but to make it easier for pickleballers, as explained by Craig Plante, representing Cloud Peak Pickleball.
Plante explained that all they need is the city’s approval and the organization would take care of painting the courts and maintaining them, with no cost to the city.
After consideration, the council voted to continue the decision until the April 7 meeting, to allow for public comment on the matter.
Rob Bennett
March 22, 2026 at 9:29 pm
I am a member in good standing of Cloud Peak Pickleball Club and play an average of 5 days a week. We keep the courts clean and free of debris. I’ve filled in potholes with bagged dirt in the grass walkway in the back. I rarely see the tennis courts in use for tennis any given day. We typically have an average of 4 courts going and after snowbirds come back frequently 6 with 4 or more waiting to play.
Thank you for your time..
Katie McLean
May 13, 2026 at 7:10 am (Edit)
I as a tennis player have been given a long sigh and an annoyed “I guess we could make room” before asking when the pickle ballers would be done. I was told we are here Monday through Saturday 8-11 and again from like 4pm to 6:30 or something (it has been a while since this conversation because it was a hostile tone and made me clearly feel unwelcome and as a problem to them) and I said so “I only get to play in the hottest and highest sun of the day” in which I must sprint across the entire tennis court to volley with a ball going at higher speeds…opps and I get one full day…. Sunday to share with all the tennis players who now only have two courts…which brings me to another topic. Prior to that conversation the club had completely deconstructed the tennis courts next to the YMCA and made them exclusively pickleball courts. I said nothing as I watched it happen from my office window because there were at least the other two tennis courts in town. Then the club stopped using those courts instead of having them fixed after all the work you already did to them, now the club has monopolized the tennis court literally posting things around the court like it’s their own space, which is a very passive aggressive away to tennis players to show they are not welcome. As for maintaining the courts, that is simply the club’s way of trying to get what they want as it “saves the city money from paying someone”. I am a firm believer in giving people jobs in this small town and although it may be a nice gesture or way to get more of what one wants… I would rather not do it for selfish or unselfish reasons, so someone has a job. Clearly the city just needs to fix the court the pickle ball players had constructed specifically for them by the YMCA as sharing doesn’t appear to be something want to partake in with tennis players. So at this time I feel I can only go on Sunday due to this monopolization.