By Alex Abrams - Red Line Editorial DeAnn Winter has seen the pickleball courts around Medford, Oregon, fill up with a lot more players than when she was introduced to the sport more than a decade ago.
Medford, located a short drive from the California border in southern Oregon, is known for its wineries, its scenic views of the Rogue Valley and the delicious pears that grow there. It has also become home to a thriving pickleball community.
Like other cities, Medford — population around 85,000 — has gotten in on the pickleball craze that has spread across the country over the past few years. As president of the Southern Oregon Pickleball Association (SOPA), Winter got to see even more signs of just how popular the sport has become in the valley.
The sixth annual Medford Summer Classic, which ran from June 5-7 and attracted 240 players ranging in age from 8 to 86 years old. For the first time in the tournament’s short history, it was a USA Pickleball-sanctioned event.
As if that weren’t enough, the local pickleball community came together on the first day of the tournament to celebrate a ribbon-cutting ceremony marking the official opening of The Courts by Lithia and Driveway in Medford. Construction on the new 19-court pickleball facility began the previous October, cost $1.8 million, and its opening generated excitement throughout the city.
“In pickleball, a lot of people like to come together and do things in large groups, so not only having tournaments, but (this new facility) allows us a place to teach the youth, to have high school teams compete, to have clinics and leagues and other tournaments come in,” Winter said. “So, it really is a central place to bring together the pickleball community rather than kind of spread out through our area on a couple courts here and there.”
Winter said it has been great to see the valley “get behind pickleball” and understand the need for a top-tier venue like The Courts by Lithia and Driveway, which features lighted courts with permanent nets. SOPA raised more than $900,000 to help pay for the project.
The new courts are part of the larger Wes Howard Memorial Sports Park, which is adding new sand volleyball courts as well. With plenty of courts dedicated specifically to pickleball, local players no longer need to share courts with tennis players as they’ve done in the past.
“I think in the context of how some communities are taking pickleball courts away from their communities, the city of Medford, in conjunction with its partners and SOPA, have gone forward and given us this incredible facility,” said Carolyn Embry, the head referee for this year’s Medford Summer Classic. “It’s not just pickleball players who come out to this tournament. People bring their kids. They come out, and who knows, maybe we’ll be seeing them play in the following year. It is a beautiful enough facility to hold larger tournaments, which hopefully we will become. I’m confident we will.”
All of the festivities added even more excitement to the Medford Summer Classic, which had a field similar in size to last year’s round-robin tournament.
SOPA donated a portion of the proceeds from the event to CASA of Jackson County, a nonprofit organization that supports trained volunteers who represent the best interests of abused and neglected children.
Winter said this year’s tournament had even more validity to it as a result of it being sanctioned by USA Pickleball. It followed USA Pickleball rules, and players who take part in it earned points that went toward competing at larger, national tournaments.
“So, it just elevates the tournament itself, and attracted people to want to play in a tournament that’s not just thrown together, but we’re doing it following very specific rules and guidelines,” Winter said. “It just brings that kind of top notch to the tournament.”
Embry said Medford is an ideal spot for pickleball to thrive because it has mild winters and is a great place for older adults to live. She started playing pickleball soon after the pandemic, and she has since become a credentialed pickleball referee.
At the same time, the sport has grown in the valley to where Winter estimated around 1,500 people play pickleball in the small region, many of whom competed in the Medford Summer Classic.
“It’s not just pickleball players, but other people in our community coming together to make it a party and the event that people came out to,” Winter said. “And then the added benefit this year of having the new venue and our ribbon cutting as part of the tournament created a lot of excitement in our community.”
Alex Abrams has written about Olympic sports for more than 15 years, including as a reporter for major newspapers in Florida, Arkansas and Oklahoma. He is a freelance contributor to USA Pickleball on behalf of Red Line Editorial, Inc. 
