Santa Rosa tennis, pickle courts reopen after vandalism

When the pickle ball players arrived in Santa Rosa’s Finely Community Park on Saturday morning, they found blue bottles of motor oil emptied from the multi-purpose pickle and tennis courts.

Only the tennis-striped courts were untouched.

Players also found a note with swear words printed on white paper from one square. Its author threatened to open the cars of the saltball players who came to the field and called the tennis players, who did nothing to stop the pickleball players, “chickens.”

At least six gallons of oil spilled into the field, said Santa Rosa police Sgt. Christopher Mahurin.

According to city staff, the cleaning was estimated to cost about $ 2,500.

The vandalism was not visible late Monday afternoon, but the gates to the tennis and pickleball courts were still locked and the city had put up signs advising it to close due to vandalism.

“We’re all on needles,” said Darleen Naslund, 78, a member of the Sonoma County Pickleball Club.

Saturday’s mess followed a series of vandalism against pickleball players after more than 100 of them joined an online meeting of the Santa Rosa Community Services Council in late October, urging the government to add pickleball courts to the last two tennis courts only. Finley. The committee voted in favor of the proposal.

Courts have been vandalized twice in the past, both on Friday nights, Naslund said. On both occasions, the tennis courts without the pickle track were untouched.

“We can’t point a finger at anyone, but some tennis players were very upset that we were going to strip the fields for pickle,” Naslund said. “They’re still able to play tennis, but they have extra ranks, and it was hotly debated at the Parks and Rec meeting.”

According to Nalsund, the vandalism was also due to an angry clash with a tennis player last week. The player called pickleball players “retired rich people” who are “prejudiced” and “don’t care about the working population,” he said.

“Which is definitely not true,” he added. “We play all nationalities and all ages.”

Mahurin told The Press Democrat that the investigation confirmed the existence of tension between tennis and pickleball players, but he says it is too early to say who is responsible for this weekend’s vandalism.

Questions about the tensions surrounding the establishment of pickle fields were forwarded to the city’s park and recreation authorities.

Nalsund said the lack of Sonoma County pickle fields has made players more supportive.

Club members raised as much as $ 20,000 to buy new pickle nets from Finley Fields.

“But now we’re very, very worried that when those networks come in, they could be destroyed.”

Usually about 40 people gather in Finley Park to play pickle, Naslund said. Due to vandalism, he and a few other players met on Monday morning at Howarth Park, which has four fields.

Rohnert Park’s Sunrise Park also has six courses and is popular on weekends, but many in Santa Rosa prefer Finley because of its proximity.

“We are very upset that someone can make so much effort to destroy public property,” Naslund said. “We feel like only one or two people are doing this. We don’t blame the entire tennis community.

City staff worked Monday afternoon to clean up the courts, which remained closed at the end of the day.

Journalist journalist Colin Atagi participated in this story

You can contact Staff Writer Alana Minkler at 707-526-8511 or [email protected]. On Twitter @alana_minkler.