By Alek Lewis
Jun 6, 2022, 5:30 pm
riverheadlocal.com
Town officials this morning unveiled new pickleball courts at Veterans Memorial Park in Calverton and renovated tennis and basketball courts at Police Officer’s Memorial Park in Wading River.
Town officials were joined by employees of LandTek, who were contracted by the town to do the improvements for the parks’ courts.
People at the Calverton Park broke in the new courts by playing pickleball, a paddle ball sport that combines elements of tennis, badminton and ping-pong, and is popular among senior citizens. In 2013, Riverhead became the first town on Long Island to hold a pickleball tournament. The sport has become a popular sport organized by the Riverhead Recreation Department ever since.
“Supervisor Aguiar cannot be here today. I know she’s disappointed about that. But this is a really exciting day,” Deputy Supervisor Devon Higgins said. “Everyone’s looking forward to it. Obviously pickleball is hugely popular, so we’re really excited at the success of the courts already.”
“We’ve really been waiting a long time for these courts,” Recreation Superintendent Ray Coyne said.
“These courts were in such disarray, it was an eyesore,” he said of the Police Officer’s Memorial Park courts. “But to see what they look like now, it’s great. The aesthetics look great with the new fencing [and] brand new courts.”
Jennifer Shotts and Michelle Hart, both of Wading River, were playing tennis at the courts this morning as town officials arrived for the ribbon cutting ceremony. They said the new courts are a massive improvement over the previous courts, which were black top and didn’t lend themselves well to the bounce of a tennis ball.
“This is our first time here for the season. So this was a nice surprise,” Shotts said.