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Save the Tennis/Pickleball Courts at Westgate Park!

Westgate Park is located at 7500 Magarity Road.

The park currently has two tennis courts, with one court also set up for pickleball, including pickleball lines and two portable nets. 

We recently learned that in 2014, the Fairfax County Park Authority (FCPA) decided, in its master plan, to replace these tennis courts with a rectangular field. However, this decision was made 10 years ago, before pickleball’s popularity surge began.

While FCPA conducted a pickleball study in 2021, when the sport was already widely popular, it’s unclear if the decision to eliminate Westgate’s courts was reconsidered in 2021.

Now, in 2024, pickleball’s popularity has exploded. Both Langley and McLean high schools have a Pickleball Club Team and the McLean H.S. Pickleball Club has over 300 members! This amazing growth in pickleball requires a reevaluation of the 2014 master plan. 

FCPA plans to remove the pickleball courts at Linway Park due to their proximity to neighboring homes (a concern that doesn’t apply at Westgate). Losing the Linway courts and the Westgate courts would mean all local pickleball players would be left competing for limited courts at Lewinsville and McLean Central Parks. 

The Westgate courts are enjoyed by many players on a daily basis. Our Westgate group has 41 players on our email list, and many of us play year round on Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday mornings, weather permitting.

We all met on the Westgate pickleball courts years ago, and get together for pot luck dinners. Pickleball is an excellent way for seniors to stay social and active. The Westgate courts provided a welcome diversion for our group, getting through the COVID pandemic. There are also other groups playing pickleball or tennis at Westgate during different days and times.

Instead of cutting down trees and spending a fortune to build a rectangular field, please preserve the existing tennis and pickleball courts for the many people who use them regularly. 

Removing a popular amenity simply because it’s in a 10-year-old master plan doesn’t make sense, especially given the surge in pickleball’s popularity. McLean urgently needs more pickleball courts to meet this demand, yet the county is planning to remove courts at both Linway and Westgate Parks.

Please sign this petition to delay any changes to Westgate Park until a proper neighborhood notification and outreach process is conducted, and mutually acceptable alternatives are in place.

Thank you for supporting Westgate Park Pickleball!

Friends of Westgate Park Pickleball