Why is Ward leasing their land for a pickleball facility?
At Ward we don’t look at ourselves as just church buildings with worship services on Sundays. We want to be good neighbors and an integral part of the fabric of the local community – all week long, all year long. Our goals include serving the community, as well as being welcoming neighbors and always offering what we call “extra-mile hospitality.” And we try to use our buildings and grounds to that end. Pickleball actually ties in with a number of those values. Its appeal is cross-generational, it has become extremely popular, and it is a very social sport that lends itself to developing one-on-one relationships.
Inviting our community to our campus is nothing new at Ward Church. Throughout the week we currently host a preschool, a coffee shop and - in the winter - many walkers. Local basketball teams use our gym to practice in. It’s also used for weekly adult pickup games and drop-in pickleball on select nights. We have programs for seniors, for grief recovery, for special needs and we operate a mobile food pantry weekly from our parking lots. Our playscape is in near constant use, we offer a popular school of music along with ESL – English as a second language - classes, and every spring our halls are teeming with Northville High School students taking their AP tests. Outside we have walking trails in the woods and our ball fields have long been used by local leagues for practice and weekend tournaments. And in the summer, we operate an always-at-capacity children’s day camp. The opportunity to bring a Pickleball facility to our campus fits with our mission and values that Ward has been living out for over 60 years.
...But what’s the big attraction with pickleball?
So why pickleball? Its appeal is cross-generational. It’s easy to learn, inexpensive, and is a very social sport. According to experts – pickleball is the fastest growing sport in America, with an estimated 36+ million players. We think pickleball fits right into our desire to be a good neighbor, with a healthy dose of friendly hospitality thrown in for good measure.
For anyone who might not be familiar with it, Pickleball is sort of a cross between tennis, badminton, and ping pong.
It’s played on a court with a net, a paddle and plastic ball; sort of like a wiffleball but sturdier.
It is – according to experts – the fastest growing sport in America.
There were estimated to be over 36 million pickleball players as of 2022.
About 14% of Americans played pickleball at least once in 2022.
And over 8.5 million people played eight times or more.
It’s been suggested that the popularity of the sport is because it’s easy to play, has a low cost of entry, and the fact that it is a very social sport.
Early on, its appeal was mostly to middle-aged and older people, it is now becoming more popular among younger adults as well.
The 18-34 age bracket is the single largest segment.
Players 55 and up are the second largest segment.
Timeline
On April 22, Ward submitted the formal request to Northville Township to amend the way that our property is currently zoned – called our PUD, or Planned Unit Development. At that point Northville notified the surrounding neighbors. There was a public open hearing on May 28th and Northville Township approved the request for a zoning amendment. If all goes as planned, ground will be broken this fall and pickleball play will begin by the fall of 2025.
FAQ's
Within Ward, Senior Pastor Scott McKee, Executive Director Kyle Nabors, senior Ward leadership including the Trustees, the Board of Elders (Session), and a small team of knowledgeable volunteers support this plan. That includes: John Nowacki, Lee Haller, Debbie Meagher, Doug Moak, Katie Haystead and Robyn Marcotte.
Three local entrepreneurs, all with extensive experience in business in general and the sport of pickleball in particular. One of the partners runs the Wolverine Pickleball venue in Ann Arbor. Two of the partners are active, longtime residents in the Northville community and are eager to fill a need in the community. The name of the business will be the Northville Pickleball Club.
The building will be a low profile, single-story, brick structure on the west side of the property. The design, style and coloring are intended to complement the main Ward church building. It is important to note that it will not be a sports bubble. It will hold 16 indoor pickleball courts.
Ward will own the land and lease it to the pickleball facility. The pickleball partners will own the building itself. We are adopting a similar model as Schoolcraft College currently implements on their property.
The venue will be run as a for-profit business. They will offer various combinations of leagues, lessons, and open-court times, much the same way other sports venues do today. The model will be Wolverine Pickleball in Ann Arbor. The decisions around fees, hours and other operational processes will be managed by the business, not Ward Church. Once they share a website with more information, we will share that here.