The Hills were alive with the sound of pickleball, as fans of the sport gathered at the West Hills Athletic Club in Kalamazoo.
The Club, which is operated by Western Michigan University, recently opened the Latitude 42 Pickleball Complex, a large indoor space where people can play.
"The size of the courts — we went competition-sized courts, so they’re a little bit larger than what you’d find in a lot of facilities," said West Hills Associate Director Chad Ward.
"So that if NCAA play came around, MHSAA high school play, we’re hoping to get involved in a lot of things that pickleball has in its future."
Greg Root teaches the sport at West Hills. He said his favorite part of the event was seeing people walk in the door.
"Their eyes get real big and they smile real big and they go, ‘oh my goodness, we knew it was coming, but we didn’t know it was going to be like this.’ To have these super-high ceilings and all this space. And there’s, I don’t know, a hundred-plus people in here right now easily, and we’ve got a lot of people playing pickleball — that’s great."
One of those guests was Kirsten Pawloski.
"I could not believe how nice it was. It was even nicer than I thought it was going to be. I didn’t do any of the sneak peeks because I wanted to come in blind, and it’s amazing," she said.
Pawloski said she’s looking forward to having a place to play inside in bad weather.
Guests do not have to be a member of the club to play at the complex, though they do have to buy a pass.
