Pickleball Facility Land Lease Information

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.

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 will notify the surrounding neighbors. There will be a public open hearing on May 28th. We do not know when Northville Township will make their final decision regarding our request for a zoning amendment. If all goes as planned and it is approved, ground will be broken this fall and pickleball play will begin by the fall of 2025.