Cache Pickleball court building community

The Cullins and Painter families play many sports together: Basketball, soccer, kickball, football. They like to take advantage of sunny days with good weather.

Recently the multi-generational family has added pickleball into its repertoire.

They can play in comfort in Cache because of a state-of-the-art pickleball court built last year.

“We come out on the weekends,” Shaleah Cullins said. “We like to come either Saturday or Sunday early in the morning when it’s summertime. And in the fall, anytime really. They have lights so we can come out in the evenings.”

Pickleball is a fast-paced paddle sport played on a small court that is 44 feet long and 20 feet wide. Think a cross between tennis, badminton and ping-pong. It can be played one-on-one or between teams of two.

“It kind of started off in the older community, I think as an alternative to tennis,” Cullins said. “It’s not quite as rigorous as tennis, but it’s still a really good exercise.”

Pickleball has a unique scoring system. Points are scored by hitting a whiffle ball over the net with paddles.

It requires quick reactions but does not necessitate a ton of running. Perfect for young and old players to play.

Malachi Painter, 9, enjoys the sport just as much as Cullins’ dad who is in his 60s.

“It’s fun,” Malachi said, who added it is easy to learn but hard to master.

Although it’s been open for a while, Cache’s pickleball court remains busy. Karlene Painter said people who play tend to stick together and share the game with others.

When their families played Saturday, Painter and Cullins invited a young couple to join in. All had fun, and they made plans to play again.

“A lot of times community members will come out here and they won’t necessarily know the rules,” Painter said. “But it’s a really big community sport. You do a lot of talking with each other, helping each other. Even strangers. It’s known for being a community sport.”