Photo: Madison Rogers/WBZ NewsRadio
BOSTON (WBZ NewsRadio) — It's time to play ball at Fenway Park, just not the type you'd think.
America's most beloved ballpark is hosting a pickleball tournament organized by Pickleball4America, which features 12 blue pickleball courts sprawled across the outfield for people to play on. The event runs until Sunday, July 16, and features tournaments for both professional and amateur players.
People from all over have descended upon Fenway to play one of the nation's fastest-growing sports, including a group from a retirement community in Groveland.
"I think it's very exciting," one retiree told WBZ's Madison Rogers. "It's the coolest thing I've ever done."
Players have even come from across the country, like one man who's the head of a pickleball club back in Wisconsin. He said the sport is everywhere now because it's easy to play for people of all ages.
"It's taken over everything," he said. "It's easy to play, you don't have to be a superior athlete in order to play it."
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Pickleball4America President Ben Weinberger said the event has plenty of ways for people to play outside of the tournaments.
"We have open court rentals so individuals, teams, and companies can come and rent a court and just have fun," he said.
Time slots for the rental courts run for 80 minutes and allow for up to 10 people per court. So far, renting courts has been very popular.
"We just want to play well and have fun," Kathleen from Nashua said before renting a court.
Fenway Park is just the first stop on pickleball's ballpark tour. The series will also host games at Oracle Park in San Francisco and Coors Field in Denver.
WBZ's Madison Rogers (@MadisonWBZ) reports.
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