MOSES LAKE — As pickleball continues to grow in popularity across the country, a group of Moses Lake residents are working to increase the sport's presence locally. Most recently, Moses Lake Pickleball Club board members spearheaded a project that brought new nets to McCosh Park.  

"Our goal and our direction is, grow the club, get to where we have insurance, have club times, and then actually start hosting some tournaments here locally," Morris said. 

The board members include Jaime Garza, Dylan Morris, Nathan Albright and Dion Robertson. In addition to growing the club, they also want to help provide more activities their neighbors of all age groups can enjoy.  

"Across the United States, pickleball (popularity) has increased dramatically," Garza said. "I'm glad that we're able to jump on that train and offer that to our community. It's a great recreation that we have." 

Pickleball has always been around Moses Lake, Garza said. He remembers watching tournaments as a kid off Third Street during Spring Fest.  

"I would sit down there on the curb and watch these guys play pickleball, and I thought it was the coolest thing," he said. 

As pickleball has grown in popularity, Garza and the rest of the club members are eager to establish a more formal way to get involved with the sport.  

The investment in the sport has been developing for some time now, Garza said. Just three years ago, he was asked to help bring the sport to town.  

"Former tennis coach Richard Teals lived down the street from me – he invited me to Moses Lakes Parks Recreation and Cultural Board meeting," he said. "He asked me to talk about pickleball, to see what we can do to get some pickleball lines (painted) and then eventually working collaboratively with the city and some pickleball players."  

Over the last three years, gradually the investment has progressed.  

"I'm very thankful this was a collaborative effort to bring this opportunity to Moses Lake," Garza said. "It has allowed me to meet a lot of different people. I'm excited for our youth to be able to participate in this sport now that we have nets there, and they (can) pretty much bring a paddle and some balls, and they can play."  

Their efforts to spruce up the courts doesn't stop at new nets; they've also invested in windbreakers and hope to touch up the court itself eventually, Morris said. 

"It's that (saying) 'You build it, they will come,'" Morris said. "That's kind of the goal here, is try to spruce it up, try to make it look nice, attract attention to it, and you hope that it grows." 

The club has also organized a 501(c)(3) nonprofit to help formalize the process of becoming a member as they look to expand, he said.  

One way they approach this is utilizing a hub where local players can organize and find times to play through an app called TeamReach. On there you can search 'MosesLakePickleballClub,' and enter the code 'MLPBC2005' to join the groups page. 

From Garza and Morris' perspective, there's a lot that makes pickleball so popular across all age groups.  

"It's so popular because one, it's cheap for the most part," Morris said. "It's not crazy hard on the body; a lot of people that are retired, it's a good sport for them to stay active. It's easy for two friends to play together, still be fit and be active, and also be a social group, too. If you want to play more competitively, there's tournaments where you can find a partner, and it's just you two playing in a tournament." 

"It's the community that takes place," Garza said. "I played all over, I pack my paddle and shoes with me. I went to Mexico City last year. I brought my pickleball stuff because you're going to find somewhere to play, and typically people are like, 'Yeah, come on in, join us, or we'll let you play a game,' super inviting, and it's very accessible right now." 

As they work to keep expanding pickleball in Moses Lake, Garza and Morris expressed similar interests in forming leagues, clinics, lessons and hosting local tournaments at McCosh to bring more people out.  

In the meantime, they'll expect to keep up with their typical days of play on Saturdays and Sundays from 8 a.m. to noon.  

For anyone interested in joining the club, more information can be found at TeamReach or on their Facebook page, 'Moses Lake Pickleball.' However, courts are open to the public for anyone looking to try it out without joining a formal group, Garza said. 

    The new pickleball nets that were recently installed at McCosh Park, which Moses Lake Pickleball Club worked with the city to bring to the community, Jaime Garza said.