A dispute is brewing in East Los Angeles as the City of Los Angeles Department of Recreation and Parks proposes converting a tennis court at Hermon Park into four pickleball courts.
The proposal has drawn strong opposition from local tennis players, who have posted "Save Our Tennis Courts" signs and launched a petition to halt the conversion.
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They argue that the park's first-come-first-serve system already makes it challenging to secure court time, and reducing tennis court availability would exacerbate the problem.
"There's already massive tennis groups here that are monopolizing a lot of time, so we probably don't need pickle ballers doing it," Edmond, a regular tennis player at Hermon Park, told KNX News' Karen Adams.
Another tennis player, Michael, expressed concern about the increased noise and congestion. "They'll set up four pickleball courts in the space of one, so that's 16 people," he said. "Just like peripherally, you're used to two, maybe four people and just the noise. Much more of a social sport, it seems."
Edmond also questioned why the transition to pickleball is even necessary. "You have tennis, a beautiful game. We have tons of facilities for it. In terms of barrier to entry, you can get starter equipment at Target for the same cost, if not less than starter pickleball equipment," he said. "I really see no purpose for building up some kind of new, mostly corporate sport. I just don't think we need that."
Edmond plans to attend the Department of Recreation and Parks community meeting on Wednesday to advocate for preserving the tennis courts.
The meeting is scheduled for April 9 from 6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at the Highland Park Senior Center, located at 6152 N. Figueroa St., Los Angeles.
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