St. Clairsville opens four new pickleball courts to packed play

The four new pickleball courts in St. Clairsville were full almost immediately, and that opening-night crowd said as much about the sport’s growth in the Ohio Valley as any survey could. Eric Gay said every court was booked during the unofficial launch Tuesday night, with kids and high school students already playing on the new surface.

The courts, sponsored by Unified Bank, had been about a year in the making. Gay said the city chose pickleball because of its rising popularity and the demand from local players, and the first night backed up that call. In a town where access often determines whether people play at all, four fresh courts instantly became a draw rather than just another recreation project.

The opening also pointed to the next issue for amateurs: whether four courts will be enough once word spreads and regular open play settles in. Gay said additional upgrades are still planned, including lights and seating for people waiting to play, which would help the complex handle longer runs and more traffic. For players, those additions matter as much as the courts themselves because they determine how long the space can stay active and how many groups can rotate through.

The new complex fits into a broader pattern in St. Clairsville, where pickleball has moved from a novelty to a recurring line item in recreation planning. In September 2024, the city opened a combined basketball and pickleball court at Central Park, a project funded by Gulfport Energy. Gay called pickleball an “exploding sport” then, and the city’s latest buildout suggests that view has only hardened.

St. Clairsville has also been expanding indoors. The Unified Bank Jr. Rec Center was described as a project that would add more than 7,200 square feet of indoor sports arena space, with room for St. Clairsville High School students, the public and private groups. That facility was expected to be completed in early spring 2024, another sign that the city is using sponsor-backed recreation projects to build a larger sports footprint.

Taken together, the courts at St. Clairsville show a city responding to immediate demand rather than waiting for it to cool. The first night was not just an opening, it was evidence that local pickleball has already outgrown a simple ribbon-cutting.