City of Miami Taxpayers deserve dedicated pickleball courts. Pickleball is the hottest and fastest growing sport in the country and it is time that City of Miami taxpayers had their own public pickleball courts and complex. "Pickleball boasted 4.8 million players last year in the U.S., a participation growth rate of 39.3% since 2019." according to the Sports & Fitness Industry Association's 2022 Topline Participation Report.  This growth is staggering by all measures! And there is no slow down of the growth in the forseable future.

City of Miami residents seeking to engage in exercise and play this fun family inter-generational addictive sport must travel to other courts across Miami-Dade and other counties to access pickleball in other county parks. 

City of Miami residents seeking to increase their quality of life must fight traffic and we must burden other municipalities in Miami-Dade County, Broward, Palm Beach and Collier counties' resources.

Large pickleball complexes have been built all over the State of Florida. East Naples Community Park in Naples, Florida is the Pickleball Capital of the World with over 60 courts. Today they host the U.S. Open Pickleball Championships and CBS Sports Network now airs the event.  A park that was in shambles now brings Collier County serious economic impact dollars.  Indian Wells in California now converts their tennis courts to pickleball courts to host U.S. National Pickleball Championships. 

Although, City of Miami Public Parks has hired consultants to work on a master plan, it will be a few years before any work begins. In preliminary meetings the consultants have heard from taxpayers that pickleball is high on the list of gaps of activities not currently offered in our public parks.

We can't wait years for a Master Plan to be completed.  There are current unused spaces that can be repurposed and activated immediately. 

In traffic laden City of Miami, residents need relief now!