ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — The St. Pete Pier now features pickleball courts as part of a pop-up event.

What You Need To Know

  • The St. Pete pier now features pickleball courts as part of a pop-up event

  • The event is made possible by St. Pete Athletic, a local group bringing a 45,000 square-foot athletic and social club to the warehouse arts district this year

  • To enhance access, they’ve teamed up with Parkview for the pop-up. Parkview provides real-time live streams of Tampa Bay parks

This first ever pop-up event is powered by St. Pete Athletic — a local group bringing a 45,000 square-foot athletic and social club to the warehouse arts district this year. St. Pete Athletic will be one of 10 locations around the country that has Major League Pickleball.

St. Pete Athletic co-owner Graham Damico first discovered pickleball during the pandemic in 2020. Since then, it has been life changing. 

“The biggest thing is there’s some idea and maybe from other sports that you know it’s too easy or it’s not competitive. I think you just need to try, and a little warning to everyone, once you do you may become addicted. It’s very common,” Damico said.

To enhance access, they’ve teamed up with Parkview for the pop-up. Parkview provides real-time live streams of Tampa Bay parks. 

“People are able to check their favorite local parks very quick and efficiently to just see how busy it is, the real time weather conditions,” said Parkview chief operating officer Stephen Springston.

If you’re curious as to how crowded the courts are or the weather conditions, you can know before you go.

These business owners met through pickleball, which is why they’re so passionate about making the sport accessible to everyone.

“We hear a lot, as it relates to pickleball, people don’t know where to play, what times people play," Springston said. "So it’s just really being a resource for people to be able to easily find that information in real time and, you know, for a lot of our team members we met most of our friends, relationships we formed through our life are through sports. So it’s really about building a community."

Organizers say there’s no excuse to miss the event which runs until March 16.

If you’ve never picked up a paddle before? Not a problem. 

“You can show up to pretty much any court, including these out here on the Pier and there’s going to be more than likely somebody there that wants to play with you, or invite you into the game. And it works for all ages and skill level so no matter if you’re six or you’re 80, you can play right away. You can have fun and it’s competitive.”

A perfect place to discover a new sport and serve up a good time.