We are petitioning regarding the decision to eliminate a basketball court from Lifetime-Cary, North Carolina.  On August 12th, several members of our basketball group were informed the basketball goals were scheduled to be dismantled and removed in favor of installing pickleball courts beginning August 15th.  This is very disappointing and concerning given our recent attempts to work with Cary Club Management (CCM) regarding court time allocation for basketball and pickleball players. Basketball club members were asked by CCM not to go to corporate before they could address our concerns regarding reduced basketball court time to accommodate pickle ball.  Our basketball group was given the impression by CCM there could be a compromise incorporating pickleball during peak basketball times. The hours provided by CCM was not ideal, but it was manageable.  To be blindsided with an entire court being removed is infuriating. 

The basketball community at Lifetime-Cary has been strong, loyal, and consistent since the club’s opening in 2006. Basketball games thrived pre-pandemic. Since the reopening of Lifetime-Cary after Covid, basketball games throughout the week have returned to pre-pandemic levels. Some examples of well established games described below:

• 5 v 5 full-court games, Monday-Thursday, required members to arrive at 5:45pm to be placed on a player wait list managed by Miguel, a Lifetime-Cary employee coordinating basketball games. Each game was limited to ten minutes and ran non-stop until approximately 8:30pm.  If a member arrived after 6:30PM, the expected wait time was 40-50 minutes before playing. The games were diverse in age and ability.  Fifteen year old players participated in games with sixty year old players. Beginners teamed with pro athletes. Yes, we have NBA, WNBA, and overseas players regularly joining the runs during their off-season in addition to former NFL players.  
• 4 v 4 half-court games for 35+ years old group are played on Tuesday and Thursday 4:30-6:30pm and Sundays 9:00-11:00am.  The 35+ years old group is comprised of 30+ members.
• 5 v 5 full-court games played on Saturday from 8:00am-11:00pm occasionally requires two courts to accommodate member attendance.
• 5 v 5 full-court games played on Tuesday and Thursday from 6:00am-7:30am has a regular group.  

Each of the games described above have been consistent for the last decade. Cary-Lifetime basketball players communicate via email and text threads in addition to signups to ensure participation.

Eliminating a basketball court for pickleball is a mistake. Lifetime-Cary has used the basketball courts in the past to accommodate other sports that ultimately faded from lack of participation unlike basketball.  On August 9th at 6:00pm, a full court was reserved for a 2-3 hour time slot for 14 pickleball players. Meanwhile the remaining court had 20 plus members waiting to play one full court basketball game.  I understand Lifetime has indicated “pickleball is the fastest growing sport” while ignoring North Carolina as a basketball state. UNC, Duke and NC State are all within 30 minutes of Cary, in addition to hundreds of AAU basketball teams in the triangle area. We do not believe pickleball fits your demographic here and fully expect pickleball participation at Lifetime-Cary to fizzle like volleyball and other sports did. 

Furthermore, removing a basketball court to accommodate pickleball reduces member benefits. Lifetime-Cary has members paying more for less. Since joining the club most of us have witnessed the elimination of offerings. Lifetime-Cary is no longer a 24 hour club, use of the outdoor pool requires an additional fee and one of the two basketball courts is used to accommodate a daycare between the hours of 7am-6pm.

Please reconsider the removal of a basketball court that has accommodated hundreds of loyal basketball players for over a decade.  We are sure there are other options that can be considered to incorporate pickleball into the club’s offerings.  We believe the arrangement we have now is viable for the time being.  Permanently removing the goals sends the wrong message to Lifetime-Cary’s basketball playing members. Lifetime says it is committed to providing world-class basketball programming, but its actions with regard to court availability in recent years indicates otherwise.