Opelousas opens new pickleball courts, pairs launch with youth field day
Students turned Opelousas’ court launch into a field day, with the new South City Park pickleball build backed by $150,000 and wider park plans.
Creswell Middle School students gave South City Park’s new pickleball courts a launch that felt more like a neighborhood gathering than a ribbon-cutting. The grand opening on Tuesday, May 19, 2026, at 11:30 a.m. brought community leaders, students and local partners to the courts beside the beach volleyball court, with the public invited to watch the first big moment for the project.
The opening paired the court debut with a high-energy field day for Creswell students, making youth activity the center of the celebration. Local leaders framed that choice as part of a broader push to give children and families a safe, engaging place to move, play and spend time together at South City Park.
Louisiana Healthcare Connections provided $150,000 in funding for the courts, and city officials cast the project as more than a single-sport amenity. Mayor Julius Alsandor said the courts fit into a long-term vision for South City Park and for Opelousas, one that could support school athletics, youth leagues and regional tournaments in volleyball, basketball and pickleball. That wider use case matters in a town looking to turn a park upgrade into a steady source of play.
The health message was just as prominent as the recreation pitch. Evan Sheppard, a lead external relations specialist with Louisiana Healthcare Connections, said good health starts long before a doctor’s visit and pointed to community spaces like South City Park as places where families can build healthier routines through exercise, outdoor play and connection. Stephanie Senegal, principal at Creswell Middle School, echoed that students need places where they can be outside, stay active and simply be kids while building confidence, friendships and healthy habits.
The courts also sit inside a larger park transformation. Over the past two years, South City Park has been described as moving through an $8 million project funded primarily by the Opelousas Downtown Development District, along with a proposed $4.6 million community center that would replace the former swimming pool and poolhouse area. Earlier descriptions of the pickleball build called it a $169,000 construction project for four courts on the backside fringe of the park, with lighting included in the plans.
Taken together, the opening showed Opelousas using pickleball as a building block for something bigger. The students at the field day made the point clear: South City Park is being shaped not just as a place to play today, but as a place to grow the next generation of players.
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