A Waco neighborhood association on Saturday celebrated the first year of its comeback with the opening of a new pickleball court at Jaycee Park on Tennyson Drive.
“We revived the neighborhood association last year and looked for a project we could do that would bring people together and get some positive momentum going,” Liz Crump, outgoing president of the Parkdale-Viking Hills Neighborhood Association, said of the pickleball court.
Residents of two Waco neighborhoods celebrated the first year of their revitalized neighborhood association Saturday with the opening of a new public pickleball court at Jaycee Park on Tennyson Drive.
Two tween girls, Annie Barbers and Emery Nazarian, played the first pickleball game to christen the new court following a ribbon-cutting ceremony with city officials and neighborhood residents. Emery, 12, defeated Annie, 13, by a score of 11 to 10, in competitive match that changed leads many times.
City staffers and neighbors old and young joined in doubles games on the new court and using pickleball striping on an adjacent tennis court.
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The idea for the pickleball court came from Lucia Harkham, who lives near the park, Crump said. Harkham and George Suhm put together the application for one of the neighborhood association grants the city offers, she said.
Crump has lived near Jaycee Park since 1997, and she served as president of the neighborhood association for six years in the early 2000s.
Liz Crump speaks during the dedication of the new pickleball court at Jaycees Park near Tennyson Middle School.
“Pickleball is a great activity for people of all ages,” Crump said. “This court shows all the neighborhoods around the city what they can do if they come together.”
Maggie McCarthy, who lives near Jaycee Park, said she’s glad to have courts open to the public now available at a city park in addition to private courts at membership clubs.
Jaycee Park opened in 1961, a collaboration between the Waco Jaycees and the city, to be center for recreation, play and neighborhood activities, said Jonathan Cook, Waco Parks and Recreation director. A few years later the Jaycees and the Waco Optimist Society collaborated to add a football field.
Now there are baseball fields, football fields, basketball and tennis courts as well as walking path, Suhm said.
Annie Barbers, 13, makes a return during the championship match with Emery Nazarian, 12, who won the game on the new pickleball court at Jaycee Park.
Parkdale-Viking Hills Neighborhood Association president Liz Crump gets a hug from District 3 Council Member Josh Borderud, right, while District 5 Council Member Jim Holmes stands on her other side. The city and association celebrated the opening of the new pickleball court at Jaycee Park on Saturday.
“If you live in Parkdale or Viking Hills and you have kids, you’ve probably been to this park for sports,” Suhm said. “We thought pickleball would be a good addition because it’s an activity for all ages and all fitness levels. We want to bring more people of the neighborhood together to get more ideas and more energy.”
Waco council members Jim Holmes, left, and Josh Borderud shake hands after a go at the new pickleball court at Jaycee Park.
