How pickleball serves St. Augustine

By Wylie Saviello

It’s the fastest growing sport in America, and now it’s taking off in St. Augustine. Two new pickleball court facilities opened in the city in 2024, serving the community on and off the courts. 

One of the biggest additions is Old Coast Pickleball. Opened in spring of 2024, it was founded by Tim and Ashley Owens to test out CourtReserve, their software company that helps sports clubs manage their operations.

Located in the St. Augustine Shipyard, Old Coast is home to two full pickleball courts and state-of-the-art facilities, which Jack Johnson, the club’s operations manager, credited as the main factor in attracting players. 

Johnson also mentioned that Old Coast is the only club within two hours that does organized play, a unique feature that allows players to have guaranteed games that fit their level of play. 

“We’re giving people a place to come, get some community, get playing, that sort of thing,” Johnson said. 

Growing pickleball opportunities in southern cities, especially retirement communities like St. Augustine, get seniors off the couch and onto the court.

According to a report from Pickleheads, the annual pickleball growth rate in 2024 was 45.8%, and the region with the highest total number of players was the South Atlantic with 2.8 million players. Pickleheads added 4,000 new locations in 2024, bringing the total to 15,910 courts nationwide, says USA Pickleball’s 2024 Annual Growth Report.

Pickleball fosters social community, attracting players from many different backgrounds to play a fun and easy-to-learn game, while simultaneously improving the mental and physical health of its participants. 

Old Coast Pickleball isn’t the sport’s only new addition to St. Augustine. In October 2023, the City of St. Augustine’s Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) adopted a masterplan of beautification projects to improve both Robert B. Hayling Freedom Park and Eddie Vickers Park located in the historic Lincolnville neighborhood.

As part of some of the beautification projects carried out in 2024, the CRA upgraded the Vickers Park sports courts to two full basketball courts and six full pickleball courts. The Vickers Park sports courts were in bad shape, so much so that residents were unable to use them. 

“We introduced pickleball as a secondary court because the sport is growing in our community and on the larger scale… adding the courts addresses public interests and introduces activities for residents,” said Jamie Perkins, the CRA Manager. 

According to a blog from Renown Health, Pickleball improves heart health, creates social connections and boosts players’ mental health. Johnson noted the value of pickleball’s health benefits and potential to alter lifestyles in retirement communities like St. Augustine. 

“It’s better just to have more healthy things in the south, where we aren’t exactly known for healthy lifestyles,” Johnson said. “Especially in a retirement community, people choose to come to places like Florida to kind of live out their golden years… And for a lot of people’s golden years, you end up on the couch and unhealthy. But now we have people in their 70s out here crushing it, having a blast and being active.” 

Johnson also explained how pickleball’s low barrier of entry gives people a competitive outlet they don’t often get to express. 

“Once people realize that it’s pretty easy to hit this ball, suddenly there’s this chance… you see a 55-year-old man with a dad bod, and the ball gets popped up, and he slams it, puts it away, and you see his face. He remembers high school, he remembers Friday Night Lights,” Johnson said. 

Sports are fun, and as Johnson said: “having fun is important.” 

“When you’re 20, there’s a lot of fun, but when you’re 50, with three kids, fun is not easy to come by, and so you need some of that,” he explained. 

Pickleball serves St. Augustine as a social outlet for all members of the community. According to a blog from Team Travel Souce, local sports clubs foster friendships, promote inclusivity and encourage personal growth. Johnson noticed that at Old Coast, pickleball crosses gender, ethnic and age lines and is a place where people are less segmented. 

“We take away the stigma that a lot of people have around socializing. We bring the people together, all you gotta do is be a part of it,” Johnson said.  

Perkins said the new pickleball courts in Vickers Park are a wonderful asset and have positively impacted the community. 

“People come from all areas of the county to visit our new court system… residents really enjoy it,” she said. 

The community impact in Lincolnville isn’t quite as simple though. Perkins addressed that while beautifying the community is a positive, it can sometimes have a vicious cycle. 

“The new courts and other beautification projects have created great opportunities for people who live there and those who have moved there recently, but they still present challenges for people who have lived there a long time. Gentrification raises housing prices and new people who are willing to pay those prices move in, displacing long-term residents,” Perkins said.