Wednesday, February 19, 2025

Pickleball court disputes escalate at Topsail Beach commissioner meeting

Commissioners with the Town of Topsail Beach passed new rules at its pickleball courts last week due to disputes among players. (Port City Daily/Caroline Horne)

TOPSAIL BEACH — Tensions have been high at a beach town’s pickleball courts in Pender County, but not because of friendly competition. 

READ MORE: Pickleball company plans for new courts in Brunswick County

At Wednesday’s Topsail Beach Board of Commissioners meeting, residents spoke out passionately about proposed changes to the town’s park guidelines for access to pickleball courts. They’re located near the Topsail Beach Town Center.

“I can’t believe I’m sitting here having a conversation about pickleball,” Town Manager Doug Shipley said. “Of all the things we have to deal with in this town.”

Roughly half-a-dozen people spoke out at the commissioners meeting, after a handful also appeared at the July 2 Parks and Recreation Advisory Board meeting. Public comments consisted of abusing the one-hour rule.

Currently, the first group who shows up to play can do so for a consistent hour; thereafter, groups have to switch off after one game. 

The town is now proposing to limit usage of the courts to one game per group only. Games last roughly 15-30 minutes each, and the first team to reach 11 points by at least a two-point difference from the other team wins. However, if teams are tied or within one point of each other, they can play up to 15 points to win the game. If they are still tied at 15 points; the game ends.

This aligns with the standard scoring system for pickleball games, according to the Pickleball Union website. 

There is also a paddle-holder system in place to keep track of which groups are next in line for a court. This has always been in place and will remain.

Two groups allegedly engaged in an altercation roughly two weeks ago over court use because one group of players was consistently getting to the courts before they open at 7:30 a.m. and taking up the space. Resident Pam Burke, who was involved in the dispute, said she was approached by another resident, Robert Sarbone, who asked her group to get off the court.

“That’s when it got ugly and I said: ‘Back off, do not come at me as an assertive male,’” Burke told commissioners.

In response, Sarbone said he was only trying to calm down the situation by saying “easy” toward the other group.

According to Jim Bernstein, former Chapel Hill parks and recreation director who spoke at the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board meeting, the hour-long rule gives an unfair advantage to groups who arrive early to the courts.

“There are etiquette rules that are out there for pickleball just like all the other sports, and guideline seven appears to me to be a little off kilter from the normal etiquette guidelines that are out there,” he said.

Pat Gunter, commissioner John Gunter’s wife, said in the Parks and Advisory Board meeting that the hour-long rule “throws a wrench” in normal pickleball etiquette, which is to rotate on a game-by-game basis among groups.

The hour-long rule was in place for four years, advised by the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board to try to organize the rapidly increasing number of pickleball players in the area. The population escalates during summer months, as tourists and visitors from Hampstead, Holly Ridge and Surf City play at the courts.

Gunter added the rule was unfair and only served a small group of players.

“There has been resentment sometimes underneath the surface and sometimes bubbling right to the top, to the extent that a few weeks ago it was actually a threat to call 911, which is kind of ridiculous over pickleball courts,” she said

The commissioners were charged with considering the hour-long rule change.

Commissioner Gunter was on the receiving end of frustration with the issue by commissioner Joe Bell.

Bell agreed the first group who arrives first should be able to play an hour. He reasoned it is hard to learn the sport, especially with younger children, in small rotating increments. 

Gunter disagreed and said the first group allowed to play longer is inequitable.

Bell was explaining the group that was using the courts first was following the guidelines and had a right to do so before Gunter began to interject.

“I’m talking, keep your mouth shut, I’m not finished,” Bell said, adding that some of the groups are “rude and disruptive.” 

Mayor Steven Smith quickly diffused the argument by telling both commissioners to calm down. 

Some of the public also took issue with the rule requiring people to rotate because they get discouraged with not having enough play time due to the short nature of single game sessions.

“That’s just not fair when we play with the rotating system, everybody gets in 20 minutes, tops,” Chris Graves said. 

Shipley pointed out the town does not enforce the guidelines, and it would have to pass an ordinance to be able to hold rule breakers accountable with consequences, such as fines. The town manager also reminded everyone of an earlier suggestion he made about a reservation system for the court, but the idea had been denied. 

The issue in availability stems from limited access to pickleball courts in the area, according to Mayor Smith. There are only two courts specifically designated for pickleball on Topsail Island, as other Surf City Recreation Center indoor courts are taken up by summer programs and tennis courts, where players have to bring their own nets and create their own lines.

The board voted 3-2, with Bell and Frank Baxton in opposition, to remove the rule that allowed people to play for an hour.


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Shea Carver
Shea Carver
Shea Carver is the editor in chief at Port City Daily. A UNCW alumna, Shea worked in the print media business in Wilmington for 22 years before joining the PCD team in October 2020. She specializes in arts coverage — music, film, literature, theatre — the dining scene, and can often be tapped on where to go, what to do and who to see in Wilmington. When she isn’t hanging with her pup, Shadow Wolf, tending the garden or spinning vinyl, she’s attending concerts and live theater.

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