Photo Courtesy of Grand Rapids Pickleball Club
Belknap Park
The place where hundreds of people come together to play the game they love most: Pickleball.
Belknap Park is one of the most well-known pickleball courts in the Midwest, where it is home to Top 10 Nationally Ranked Women, Andrea Koop and Lea Hanse. The USA Masters Games is welcomed with open arms by the Grand Rapids Pickleball Club to host the 2020 USA Masters Games Pickleball tournament on their courts. The USA Masters Games will be spread out through the city of Grand Rapids this coming June, operating in over 25 venues. The pickleball event will be held at Belknap Park through the Grand Rapids Pickleball Club. It is a fenced-in facility with 14 outdoor paved courts, lined with tall fences and windscreens on each court. They also have seating around the perimeter of the courts as well as a large pavilion in the front of the facility for participants to utilize.
Photos Courtesy of Grand Rapids Pickleball Club
Belknap Park Development
The creation of the Belknap Park was not an easy process. It took years of donations, conversations, and hard work that made it all possible. The facility was donated and built by a variety of clubs and organizations in the Grand Rapids area, which makes it that much more special to the people of the pickleball family.
It all started in 2009, when Don Bont and John Schowalter searched several city parks in the area that would be possible for pickleball. After contacting the city of Grand Rapids, Belknap Park was the perfect location as it has an abundance of parking, lighting and limited residential neighbors. They then began to chalk two of the existing tennis courts into pickleball courts.
The large number of participants and interest was growing rapidly at Belknap Park. In 2010, John Schowalter contacted the City of Grand Rapids to see if they could host an event at Rosa Park Circle, a downtown Grand Rapids park at city center, during the noon lunch hour. The event went forward and attracted several spectators building a reason to complete Belknap Park as a place to play Pickleball.
Construction of the pavilion | Photo Courtesy of Grand Rapids Pickleball Club
As the years passed, every game was documented to build a case to make the tennis courts permanent pickleball courts. The city gave the group permission to develop the first six courts if they raised the money. With no hesitation, they began the construction of the new pickleball courts with the help of donations from the local Rotary Club and several large foundations and individuals.
From 2013 to 2017, they have added 8 more courts for a total of 14 courts to the facility as the participation and interest in the sport has expanded. Concrete benches, tall fences, new windscreens, a message board and a storage shed were also added to the facility to increase the overall participant experience. The Grand Rapids Pickleball Club proceeded to launch another capital campaign for $25,000 to build a pavilion in honor of Peggy Reed, former vice president of the club. Belknap Park is always looking for additional opportunities to expand their facilities and build onto the current structure.
The Growing Interest
Belknap Park has been an instrumental part of the Grand Rapids area and can be thanked for the increase in participation for Pickleball. In fact, Belknap is “the premier Pickleball Facility in the Midwest.” said Paul Richards. The Grand Rapids Pickleball Club saw a steady rise in the desire to play competitively. It currently has around 700 members and the Belknap Park courts are the home of the club, but is expected to increase the number of members in the coming years. With this, Belknap soon began to host a few major tournaments starting in 2018 throughout the year including the Meijer State Games of Michigan, State Games of America, Beer City Open, as well as smaller membership tournaments for pickleball players to compete.
Beer City Open | Photo Courtesy of Grand Rapids Pickleball Club
The USA Masters Games will take place in June of 2021 followed by the Beer City Open. The Beer City Open is scheduled for July 8-11, 2021 and has attracted some of the best players in the country in 2018 and 2019. With the cancellation of the Beer City Open in 2020, the Grand Rapids Pickleball Club hopes to bring more of the best players in 2021. The Meijer State Games of Michigan began their tournament at Belknap Park in 2018 and has continued to use their facilities since.
Belknap Park has also hosted some training sessions and clinics outside of the major tournaments to help pickleball participants improve their skills with some of the best players, one being Kyle Yates. Additionally, several top pickleball players have also played or hosted clinics at Belknap Park, including but not limited to; top women’s pickleball players: Sarah Ansboury, Corrine Carr, Irina Tereschenko, Simone Jardim, Lindsey Newman, Leigh and Anna Leigh (AL) Waters. As for top men’s pickleball players that have been featured at Belknap Park consists of Tyson McGuffin, Ben Johns, Scott Moore and Dave Weinbach.
Photos Courtesy of Kaitlyn Coons
Belknap Park is an ever growing facility, and the USA Masters Games is excited to host the USA Masters Games Pickleball tournament at Belknap Park this coming June. Find more information about the Grand Rapids Pickleball Club and places to play in Grand Rapids, Michigan at www.grpickleball.com
Disclaimer: The 2020 USA Masters was postponed to June of 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic. The USAMG in 2021 will continue to be referred to as the 2020 USA Masters Games, and competition medals and other event-related items will also reflect such branding.
Photos courtesy of Grand Rapids Pickleball Club & Kaitlyn Coons