Cranberry Township is the region's pickleball Mecca. But not all taxpayers are thrilled.
CRANBERRY, Pa. (KDKA) — Temperatures are rising over pickleball in Cranberry Township.
It's far and away the fastest-growing sport in the United States, attracting waves of retirees and young people alike. Pickleball has grown by more than 200 percent over the past three years, now boasting 36 million players nationwide.
Locally, Cranberry Township is the region's undisputed pickleball Mecca, featuring an unrivaled complex of 19 state-of-the-art courts.
Wildly popular, it's heavily organized with individually-rated pickleballers playing scheduled round-robin tournaments from sun up to past sundown. Though not everyone who Iives close by is thrilled.
"From 7:15 in the morning until about 10 o'clock at night, it's just pop, pop, pop, pop. And it is driving people crazy," said Jeff Gaguzis of the Westminster Homeowners' Association.
But noise is not the only complaint. The courts are run by the Cranberry Township Pickleball Association. And though the courts are situated in Cranberry's Graham Park, they're not open to the public.
Cranberry residents have daily access to just three courts from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. and can't play on the others unless they pay the association's $100-plus membership fee. But non-residents who pay the fee can and do.
"I don't think it's right that non-residents are playing up ahead of Cranberry taxpayers," resident Jim Charles said.
Charles isn't a pickleball player. But he's been questioning the association ever since he saw a grandmother and her granddaughter get turned away from an empty court. Even though they were residents of the township, they were not association members.
"Taxpayers who pay taxes in this community can't play at a free park," Charles said.
The association is the brainchild of Bruce Mazzoni, the co-founder and co-director. He also serves as a Cranberry Township supervisor. Mazzoni declined to appear on camera but calls the association a partnership with the township, which uses no tax money and is run and funded entirely by its close to 2,000 volunteer members, whom he says have made it the premiere pickleball facility in the region.
Three members who are from out of town told KDKA-TV that they were driven from a dearth of pickleball in their hometowns and found the gold standard in Cranberry Township.
"Cranberry Township residents should be thrilled to have this opportunity to play and join as a member," Ohio Township resident Nancy Furbee said.
But even if they want to become members, Cranberry residents will need to get in line. There are now hundreds of people on a waiting list to join the association.
In the meantime, the township says it is trying to fix the noise problems and will be building two public-only courts in another park, but that is a year away.