The competition, featuring men’s, women’s and mixed doubles categories, will take place on the park’s tennis courts, which will be temporarily taped with lines to accommodate play.

Proceeds from the competition will go toward a fundraiser seeking $450,000 to build six public, fenced-in pickleball courts at Austin Park. Plans call for the courts to be just west of the existing tennis courts.

“Our mission is to bring the joy of pickleball to our community by building state-of-the-art courts,” said Tom Fairhurst, the tournament organizer and head of the fundraising effort.

Players in Skaneateles currently play indoors during limited hours in the gym at the Skaneateles Community Center, or outdoors on Austin Park’s four, aging, asphalt basketball courts, which are marked with pickleball lines. The nets and balls for outdoor play are stored in a nearby shed and have to be taken out and put away afterward by the players.

Fairhurst estimated Skaneateles currently has more than 200 pickleball enthusiasts who regularly play in the community and elsewhere – and the numbers keep growing.

Pickleball is heralded as the fastest growing sport in America and is well represented at the Empire Senior Games and National Senior Games with numerous competitors. A number of former tennis greats such as John McEnroe, Andre Agassi and Steffi Graf have taken up the game. 

Skaneateles Fields Resort and Spa, located across the street from Baxter (formerly Welch-Allyn in Mottville, is scheduled to open this fall. Its offerings to guests will include access on the premises to several outdoor pickleball courts, the resort’s website notes.

Contrary to what some may think, “pickleball is not just an old person’s sport,” Fairhurst said. Players of all ages are getting in on the action. Young adults, college kids are playing. It’s currently part of the gym class activities offered to students by the Skaneateles School District,

Nearby communities – Auburn, Owasco, Throop, Marcellus, Camillus and the town of Scott –have dedicated, public outdoor pickleball courts. Unfortunately, Skaneateles players often travel to play on them due to the lack of adequate public facilities in their community, Fairhurst said.

“We have a solid, pickleball-playing community. It’s a quality-of-life thing. A social thing. We want to keep folks together and playing here,” he said.

As for the upcoming tournament in July, the plan is to have 12 teams in each grouping, initially playing in a round-robin format so that teams are guaranteed at least three games, Fairhurst said. The top six teams from the round robin format will then advance to a playoff format based on seedings from round one.

Cost to register is $45. Tournament T-shirts with the tournament logo on the front can also be purchased for an additional $15. Medals will be awarded to the top three teams in each division. The deadline for registration is July 15.

Registrations are being taken online on the pickleball.com website. Once on the website, click on the “tournaments” tab and then type in Skaneateles in the “find a tournament” section.

To date, Fairhurst said a total of $139,000 has been raised for the new courts and several other efforts are being pursued to raise the balance of the $450,000 needed to complete the project. Byrne Daily is the lead corporate sponsor for the upcoming tournament.

For updates on the tournament and fundraising efforts, go to “Skaneateles Pickleball Courts Fundraiser” on Facebook, or to “skanpickleballcourts” on Instagram

Donations for the proposed Skaneateles pickleball courts can be made online through the Central New York Community Foundation. Go to the foundation’s website (https://cnycf.org, click on the “Donate Now” tab and in the search bar, type in Town of Skaneateles Pickleball Courts Fund.

Or, checks can be sent and made payable to the Community Foundation. Be sure in the memo section of the check that the contribution is for the “Skaneateles Pickleball Courts Fund.” The foundation’s address is: Central New York Community Foundation, 431 East Fayette Street, Suite 100, Syracuse, NY 13202.

For more information, contact Fairhurst at tmfairhurst@gmail.com.

(For questions on this press release or the attached photos, contact David Figura at 315-470-6066.)