Backyard pickleball courts becoming popular in Miami-Dade County

Robert Mendez remembers being disappointed.

He and his wife, Kathy, started playing pickleball in January of 2018. They immediately fell in love with the sport, but they had trouble finding places to play outside of the Salvation Army’s courts.

At that time, few parks in Miami-Dade County offered pickleball, and those that did often had too many players for too few courts, which meant a long wait in between matches.

Mendez also said he felt a “push back” from tennis players who thought that pickleball was encroaching on their territory in parks where the sports shared space.

“I was disappointed because my wife and I had played pickleball in other states such as Colorado and North Carolina, and they had plenty of courts,” Mendez said. “Even closer to home in Naples or Fort Lauderdale, they didn’t have this problem.”

Given all of that, Robert and Kathy came up with a solution.

Build their own pickleball court in the back yard of their South Miami home.

In November of 2021, Robert and Kathy – with the help of some friends – finished work on their pickleball palace, complete with portable lights and a gazebo area to sit and enjoy cold drinks in between hot matches.

The cost was about $26,000, and Robert said it would have set him back more than twice that much if he had gone with a contractor who had given him an estimate.

“I’m a do-it yourself guy,” Robert said. “I got a contractor to put the concrete down. I had to wait 30 days, and then I got a guy to paint the court and put down the lines.”

Mendez got a neighbor who builds fences to give him a good price on that part of the project, and so it went until the job was done.

Robert said having a backyard court has helped his game.

“You get better by drilling,” he said, “and, by having your own court, we can also invite better players over. They like it because they don’t have to wait forever for court time.”

Added Kathy: “I’ve been able to bring instructors here for group lessons. it’s very convenient.”

But the Mendezes are not the only Miami family that is now able to enjoy the convenience of their own pickleball court.

Sergio Garcia, a physician, didn’t even show up the first time his wife, Michelle, set up a pickleball date at Miami Dade College.

He thought the sport was, well, “stupid” is about as close as we can get in a family newspaper.

But then Garcia actually played pickleball.

“I got hooked pretty quickly,” Garcia said with a laugh. “Within a few months, we decided to build our own court.”

But not just one court.

Two of them!

“With one court, you can only have about six players, rotating in and out,” Garcia said. “And then how do you decide which people to invite?

“With two courts, you can at least have 12 people.”

Garcia, who lives in Kendall, said the two courts cost him $24,000 each, plus $9,000 for lights.

Once the courts were ready, Garcia came up with a plan.

Monday nights are reserved for players with 4.0-to-5.0 ratings. On Wednesdays, he brings a coach over for lessons. Thursday is 4.0 night, and there’s also a mixed-doubles night.

“We try to do it by skill level so that the games are competitive and nobody gets picked on,” Garcia said.

In addition to all of that, Garcia also has a ball machine to help him practice even more.

Garcia said the courts have made him very popular in his neighborhood.

“If you talk to enough people,” he said, “they will tell you, ‘Oh yeah, the doctor who has two courts.’”

Luis Alonso, a real-estate developer, also built his own court in Kendall.

Alonso used to play racquetball, but he took up pickleball after the start of the COVID pandemic.

“After I starting playing pickleball,” Alonso said, “I never went back indoors for racquetball again.”

Alonso built his court – which does not have lights -- in June of 2023 at the cost of $17,000.

It’s known as the “Mango Court” because it is surrounded by a mango grove.

Alonso’s wife, Hilda, also plays pickleball, and she loves having the private court.

“This is the first sport I’ve ever played in my life,” Hilda said. “Pickleball helps with everything – even your mental state.

“It’s an all-around fun sport anyone can play, and I truly love it.”