On a hot Saturday morning in July last summer, I introduced Pickleball to Chester with the help of Swarthmore College women’s tennis coach Jeremy Loomis. On a warm and drizzly Saturday this week, Pickleball returned to Memorial Park in the form of a Pickleball party sponsored by Jeannine Fallon Anckaitis, Executive Director of Youth Development and United Chester Upland Youth Soccer, who brought Coach Loomis back to provide instruction.
Several youth and a few adults participated in what is considered the fastest growing sport in the United States. It’s events like these that will begin to launch Chester into a destination for all youth sports creating tourism and business growth for our city and giving our children a lot more to do in our parks and playgrounds.
Chester has 10 very nice outdoor tennis courts that get little action. Converting a few of them into Pickleball courts is the plan to take advantage of one of our most underutilized park assets.
Youth Development United and Chester Upland Youth Soccer are Section 501(c) (3) charitable organizations, strengthening communities by mentoring youth, engaging families, and promoting healthy living. CUYS is a founding member of Chester’s Mentoring Initiative, which brings together over 100 organizations each month to support and uplift the youth of Chester.
Chester Matters Blog 
Awesome! Thanks so much. I will share via social media. It was gre
Very cool!
One of the things I saw in Sun Village that no reporter ever picked up on were the number of young men who are soccer players. The stadium is packed. In a few years’ time, it may host some World Cup games (yeah, for real!)
But nope, no one ever talks about football aka soccer here.
Why not?
A city, by nature, is cosmopolitan. If it can’t figure out how to be cosmopolitan, it’s nothing more than an overgrown small town.