News from Ambassador Jim Acton/Metro West Boston area

 PLAYTIME SCHEDULER - a useful tool for players looking for round robins at their level, a bane to recreation departments. For those who use the site, you've seen the familiar pop up message when you log on:

Creating a session on this site does not give your group special rights to a court.

Failure to follow the venue's rotation rules may result in the venue being removed from the site.

Thank you,
PlayTime Scheduler Development Team

Most pickleball courts in the greater Boston area are shared courts - tennis and pickleball. Only a small number of permanent pickleball courts are available in our area, unlike many parts of the country. Even many Cape Cod towns are now offering pickleball-only courts. While it will be a slow process for towns to build courts, most observers agree that it will eventually happen. Until then, we must share court time with tennis players.

But even within the pickleball community, Playtime Scheduler causes issues, and that is why some towns have removed their courts from the site. For one thing, not everyone knows of the site or is registered to use it. That causes issues when there is a large group scheduled for a round robin and a group(s) shows up to play. By the rules of most towns, that group can play on a court on its own but it certainly negatively impacts the round robin. In the end, these are public courts and anyone can play when they want. Some towns, like Brookline, have solved its issues by designating a "pickleball coordinator" who schedules play by levels and monitors the round robins to make sure people are playing at the proper level. This is probably the direction towns will need to move as more and more people take up pickleball.

We checked with the Rec Departments in a few towns in our area and here is what they said about pickleball/tennis hours and the use of Playtime Scheduler:

NATICK

- The courts at Connor Heffler Park (East School) are listed on Playtime Scheduler but these are public courts so anyone can play at any time

- The time limit for one group on a court is one hour. After an hour, they must give up the court to others

- Pickleball has the courts ALL DAY on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday; tennis has the courts on Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday

- There are four pickleball nets at the courts

- Pickleball can be played on the tennis days but pickleball players must leave the courts if both tennis courts are needed

- More info here: https://www.natickma.gov/DocumentCenter/View/12790/Pickleball-and-Tennis-Schedule-March-2022?bidId=

WAYLAND

- Wayland is not listed on Playtime Scheduler

- The courts at Wayland High School feature six tennis courts, three of which are lined for six pickleball courts

- There are six nets at the courts

- Use of the courts is on a first-come, first-served basis starting at 8 a.m.

WELLESLEY

- Wellesley has a number of locations with pickleball lines but only Sprague Field is on Playtime Scheduler

- If courts are not full, anyone can use the courts. But residents have preference

- More information here, including location of the courts: https://www.wellesleyma.gov/354/Tennis-Pickleball-Court-Information

FRAMINGHAM

- Framingham is not on Playtime Scheduler

- There are six pickleball courts lined on the tennis courts at Butterworth Park

- There are six nets at the courts

- Pickleball has preferred use of the courts on Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday. Tennis has preferred use on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday

SUDBURY

- Sudbury is not on Playtime Scheduler

- There are four pickleball courts lined on the tennis courts at Featherland Park, two courts at Feeley Field

- Courts are on a first-come, first-served basis

MARLBOROUGH

- Pickleball is available at Ward Park and overseen by the Ward Park Pickleball group

- Different levels of play take place on different days, each day of the week

- More info here: https://www.wardparkpball.org/

NEWTON

- Newton is on Playtime Scheduler

- Multiple courts are available

- Residents and non-residents must pay a fee through the rec department

- More info here: https://newtonma.myrec.com/info/activities/program_details.aspx?ProgramID=30101

The best way to avoid problems and large crowds? Grab three or seven fellow pickleball players and head to any court after 11 a.m. Mornings and late afternoons are the busiest times on most courts. But courts have availability after 11 a.m. and all afternoon (even on weekends). It's the perfect way to play as many games as you want without wait times.