“New business — pickleball,” Greg Files, Wrightsville Beach Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee chair, announced at the beginning of the group’s monthly meeting Monday, Aug. 4.
The committee hopes to receive a Parks and Recreation Trust Fund grant, which could be used to bring pickleball and several other popular sports to Wrightsville Beach Park.
The committee agreed pickleball courts would be a natural addition to the park because they could be incorporated into the existing tennis courts. Parks and recreation program supervisor Katie Ryan suggested the funds could also go toward popular activities such as gaga ball and Supernova, which would appeal to children and teens.
Ryan described gaga ball as a form of dodgeball played in a small octagonal arena. She showed the committee a photo of Supernova, a colorful spinning platform.
“It looks like something someone who surfed or skateboarded could use as an agility exercise,” Ryan said.
The committee also discussed introducing a token system of payment for two of its fitness classes, low-impact aerobics and tone and stretch.
“You buy so many tokens, and every time you go a class, you put in a token,” committee member Charlotte Murchison explained.
“The nice thing about the token system is we could really keep track of how many times everybody came to class,” Ryan added.
The committee also considered letting people pay one flat monthly rate to attend unlimited fitness classes, an option that would allow those who attended class frequently to save money. Several members of the committee preferred this method to the token system because of the time it would take the fitness instructor to count tokens before each class.
Ultimately, a decision was not reached. The committee decided to consult the fitness instructors and aim to enact a new policy in January 2015.
The committee also addressed the topic of tobacco prevention in Wrightsville Beach parks. The members voted unanimously to not pursue a smoking ban in the park, because there had only ever been one minor complaint about the issue.
“If it becomes an issue at a later date, we can address it again, but at the moment it’s not a problem,” Files said.
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