06/04/2026
Great news: 4 new courts in St. Clairsville.
The not so great news...
Once again, people who don't know pickleball put in the courts.
I hate to be negative when local governments support pickleball but when they commit to the expenditure and do it wrong having never consulted with people that know the game.
The one thing that was done right....
The court lines seemed to have been painted correctly!
And now the not right...
1. The nets: in 15 years I have never seen a setup like these nets. I believe they are volleyball nets attached to God knows what.
Those posts must have been created from someone's imagination. These are dedicated pickleball courts so how they came up with that design could be on me.
2. The surface: this is just a painted parking lot with some sort of clear coat. The surface has not been sealed as a court it is just an painted asphalt surface. Again in 15 years, I have never seen a clear coated pickleball court. The ball skips pretty wildly on this surface.
3. The kitchen: thank you goes out to Unified Bank for sponsoring these courts but Unified, you are not getting your proper promotion and your logo is a distraction in the kitchen. There should have been signage put on the fence outside of the courts so that people can actually see your logo as it is, the only people that will see your logo in the kitchen are, pretty much, just the people playing. Again, this is the my first time seeing a logo in the kitchen. It may be on other courts but I have yet to see it.
4. The fencing: there is none on one side causing the ball to roll into the parking lot many times during the course of play. Even 6 ft of fence and a 90° angle on that end would have helped solve that problem.
It is wonderful for local governments to see the need and fill it BUT PLEASE, PLEASE PLEASE do your homework before spending public and sponsor money!
