Born from “a thirst and a hunger for community-wide events,” the town’s first permitted pickleball league has kicked off for the summer.
Lisa Spinale of Marblehead Pickleball dreamed up the idea for a local pickleball league when she played for a league in Florida.
She said she noticed a need for an official league in Marblehead and worked with the officials in Florida to get it off the ground.
Spinale said the notice for the league was emailed to 620 people and all of the spots were sold out within 24 hours. The league now comprises 80 players and four captains.
She said she proposed the idea to the Parks and Recreation Department, which approved it unanimously. She said in order to get approval, she and her team had to write bylaws, a code of conduct, get a certificate of insurance, and provide a game schedule.
At last week’s kickoff event, captains evaluated their teams’ levels of skill and ability, all decked out in matching T-shirts. All of the teams comprise different levels, such as beginner, intermediate, and advanced. Individuals were asked to self-assess their skills upon signing up. Players also had to be older than the age of 21 to sign up.
The league will meet on Mondays and Tuesdays at the Veterans Middle School for six weeks, followed by two playoff weeks after.
“To have an identity and to be a part of something, I think, is important to people,” she said.
Pickleball has been on the rise not just in Marblehead, but nationally. According to USApickleball.org, “‘pickleball grew in 2023 to 13.6 million players in the United States,’ according to the 2024 Sports & Fitness Industry Association (SFIA) Topline Participation Report. SFIA also announced that pickleball continues to be the fastest-growing sport in America, having grown 51.8% from 2022 to 2023, and an incredible 223.5% in four years since 2020.”
For more information, visit https://marbleheadpickleball.org/.