Where to Play Pickleball in Ventura County

Pickleball court at Del Prado Playgrounds in Newbury Park.

Pickleball court at Del Prado Playgrounds in Newbury Park.

According to www.whatispickleball.com, pickleball is oversized ping pong played on a badminton sized court with a tennis sized net. Pickleball originated in Bainsbridge Island, Washington in 1965 when congressman Joel Pritchard and his friend Bill Bell created the game for their families to play.

Pickleball is played with a perforated plastic ball similar to a wiffle ball that weighs about an ounce and composite or wooden paddles about twice the size of ping pong paddles. Pickleball is an indoor/outdoor sport that is easy to learn and, like tennis and ping pong, can be played singles or doubles. Learn more about pickleball at www.usapa.org.

Today, the sport of pickleball is governed in the U.S. by the USA Pickleball Association. which was founded in 2005 to promote the sport. There are over 8.9 million pickleball players in the United States over the age of six and over 44,000 pickleball courts across the country.

Pickleball continues to grow in popularity here in the Ventura County area. Here is a list of pickleball courts in and around Ventura County as well as adjacent areas:

Thousand Oaks:

Westlake Village:

The City of Westlake Village is constructing four pickleball courts for public use at Westlake Village Community Park, 31107 Thousand Oaks Boulevard. The courts will be located in the northeast corner of the existing parking lot, east of the Yarrow Family YMCA and south of the skate park. Courts will be open from sunrise to 9pm and have lights. Grand opening date is November 15th at 10am. www.wlv.org/pickleball.

Simi Valley:

Oak Park:

Pickleball courts at Deerhill Park, 6700 Doubletree Road

Port Hueneme:

Pickleball is available at Walter B. Moranda Park, 200 Moranda Parkway, Port Hueneme. There are 10 courts; 5 of them are reservable. www.ci.port-hueneme.ca.us/1169/Moranda-Park

Moorpark:

Pickleball courts at Tierra Rejada Park, 11900 Mountain Trail Street open 8am to sunset and dual tennis/pickleball courts at Miller Park, 4530 Miller Parkway open 7am to 10pm.

Camarillo:

Ventura www.cityofventura.ca.gov/pickleball

Ojai

Calabasas

The privately-owned Calabasas Pickleball Club opened on June 1, 2024, with 16 courts at 5155 Old Scandia Lane. It is a members only club. Visit calabasaspb.com for more information.

Pickleball is offered at the Calabasas Tennis & Swim Center www.cityofcalabasas.com/government/community-services-parks-recreation/tennis-swim-center/tennis-pickleball

Clubs:

Ventura County Pickleball Club venturacountypickleballclub.com

Ojai Valley Pickleball www.ojaivalleypickleball.com

Ventura County Pickleball League camarilloathletics.com/ventura-county-pickleball-league

Visit camarillopickleball.fun to connect with other pickleball players.

Tennis Courts Open to the Public In and Around Ventura County

Looking to play a little tennis in and around Ventura County? There are over 150 tennis courts open to the public throughout the county. Here they are compiled into one list. 

Contact us with any additions!

Thousand Oaks/Newbury Park

Agoura/Oak Park/Calabasas

TennisCourt.JPG

Camarillo

Oxnard

  • Carty Park, 3900 South F Street - 1 court

  • College Estates Park, 1400 Gary Drive - 1 court

  • Community Center West Park, 801 Hobson Way - 8 lighted courts

  • East Park, 351 Indus Place - 1 court

  • Fremont Tot Park, 1130 North M Street - 2 courts

  • Lemonwood Park, 2055 East San Mateo Place - 2 courts

  • Marina West, 1300 South Novato Drive - 2 courts

  • Orchard Park, 2130 Edelweiss Street - 1 court

  • Peninsula Park, 3333 South Peninsula Road - 2 courts

  • Rio del Mar Elementary, 3150 Thames River Drive - 1 court

  • Rio Lindo Park, 841 Blanca Street - 1 court

  • Sea Air Park, 2011 Ninth Street - 2 courts

  • Seabridge Park, 3900 LMD, W. Wooley - 2 courts

  • Via Marina Park, 3301 Keel Way - 1 court

  • Wilson Park, 350 North C Street - 1 court

Ventura

www.cityofventura.ca.gov/1774/Tennis-Pickleball

Simi Valley

Moorpark

Ojai

Port Hueneme

  • Moranda Park, 200 Moranda Parkway - 8 courts

Tennis courts at Borchard Park in Newbury Park are nicely maintained.

Tennis courts at Borchard Park in Newbury Park are nicely maintained.

Special Olympics Ventura County Enriches the Lives of Local Athletes

Eunice Kennedy Shriver, sister of President John F. Kennedy and Senators Robert F. Kennedy and Ted Kennedy, started the concept of Special Olympics in 1963 as a day camp for people with intellectual disabilities to provide them with the therapeutic effects of physical fitness and sports.

In 1968, she organized the first International Special Olympics Games, where 1,000 athletes from the United States, Canada and France competed. That year, Special Olympics was founded as a nonprofit organization.

Special Olympics Ventura County is a grassroots organization whose funding comes from and remains in Ventura County. Donations are used to support over 700 Ventura County athletes, ages 8 and up (there is no maximum age), in 10 different year-round sports programs at over 20 different training sites, county-wide.

Spring/summer programs offered in the February to June time frame includes athletics, aquatics, basketball, bocce and golf. Fall/winter programs offered from August to mid-December include bowling, soccer, softball, volleyball and tennis.

Special Olympics Ventura County has two full-time staff assisted by hundreds of volunteers to provide free-of-charge programs to individuals with intellectual disabili

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Jared Goff Pranks Ventura College Football Team as a Walk-On Quarterback

This Red Bull produced video from 2018 shows Los Angeles Rams quarterback (at the time) Jared Goff, pranking the Ventura College Pirates team as a walk-on. Fun to watch the reactions when Goff removes his disguise. This little prank must have been motivational to the team. It finished its greatest season in school history that year, making it to the California Community College Athletic Association (CCCAA) championship game, where it narrowly lost to Laney College.

More on Ventura College football at www.vcweplayhard.com/sports/fball/2022-23/teams/ventura.

Goff of course played with the Rams through the 2020 season. He was traded to the Detroit Lions, along with several future draft picks, for Matthew Stafford.

While we’re at it, enjoy this more recent video of Eli Manning pranking the Penn State football team as a walk-on candidate. Quite amusing.

Five New Sports to Be Added to the Tokyo Olympic Games in 2020

Earlier this month, the International Olympic Committee approved the addition of baseball/softball, karate, skateboarding, sports climbing and surfing to the 2020 Olympic Games to be held in Tokyo.

This will mark the first appearance of these sports at the Olympics, except for baseball/softball which was last on the Olympic program at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.

The additional sports will not be binding on future Olympic games and will not impact existing Olympic sports. In total, inclusion of the new sports will add 18 events and 474 athletes. These new sports are anticipated to attract a younger generation of athletes to the Olympics.

Without knowing these five sports were to be added to the next Olympics, we ran a local restaurant drawing on the CVG Facebook Page, asking entrants to indicate what additional sport they would like to see at the next summer Olympics. Here's the interesting assortment of responses we received:

  • Softball, surfing and karate all received a number of mentions
  • Hula hooping
  • Dodgeball
  • Auto racing
  • Ukelele playing
  • Donut eating
  • Handball
  • Pickleball
  • Wake boarding
  • Yo Yo-ing
  • Netball
  • MMA
  • Shuffleboard
  • Shopping
  • Bowling
  • Extreme video gaming
  • Lacrosse
  • Football
  • Billiards
  • Hopscotch
  • Juggling
  • Tiddly winks
  • Belly flopping
  • Pokemon Go
  • Disc golf
  • Jousting
  • Competitive eating
  • BMX racing
  • Ultimate Frisbee
  • Roller Derby
  • Cheerleading
  • Mini golf
  • Synchronized juggling
  • Speed knitting
  • Ballroom dancing

A clever group of folks we have on our Facebook page.

Scenes From the U.S. Olympic Marathon Team Trials in Los Angeles on Saturday, February 13th

The U.S. Olympic Marathon Team Trials took place on the Los Angeles Marathon "Stadium to the Sea" course on Saturday, February 13, 2016. 

The men's race started at 10:06 a.m. with a field of 211 qualifiers who ran qualifying marathon times of under 2 hours, 19 minutes (or sub 1:05 in a half marathon) between August 1, 2013 and January 17, 2016.  A total of 86 men met the "A" standard time of under 2 hours, 15 minutes, receiving funding support to get to the race.

Start of men's race (Photo Credit: Carl Pytlinski)

Start of men's race (Photo Credit: Carl Pytlinski)

The women's race had a field of 246 qualifiers who ran a qualifying time of under 2:45 in the marathon (or 1:15 in a half marathon). A total of 42 women met the "A" standard of 2 hours, 37 minutes. A total of 11 "masters" women (age 40+) qualified, which was quite impressive.

Start of women's race (Photo Credit: Carl Pytlinski)

Start of women's race (Photo Credit: Carl Pytlinski)

It was a warm winter day in Los Angeles, with temperatures in the mid 60s in the morning, reaching high 70s towards the finish of the race. And the race started mid-morning to accommodate TV broadcasts...unlike typical marathons that start early in the morning.

A total of 108 men completed the marathon course, including the top three, who are now slated to compete in the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio. The overall men's winner was 29 year old Galen Rupp, who was actually competing in his first full marathon!  His time of 2:11:12 earned him his 3rd trip to the Olympics, having competed in the 10,000 meters at the 2008 Olympics and 10,000 and 5,000 at the 2012 Olympics. Rupp took the silver medal in the 2012 10,000 meters, the first American male medalist in the 10,000 since 1964.

Keflezighi and Rupp in the lead  (Photo Credit: Carl Pytlinski)

Following Rupp in 2nd place was three-time Olympian and now 40 year old master's runner Meb Keflezighi, who finished in 2:12:20. Meb is a sensation indeed, having earned the silver medal in the 2004 Olympics, the first American medalist since Frank Shorter in 1976. After missing the 2008 Olympics with a hip injury (though he still finished 8th in the Olympic Trials), he went on to compete at the Olympic level again in 2012 with a 4th place overall. Rounding out the top three was 27 year old Jared Ward in 2:13.

A total of 149 women completed the 26.2 mile course, with the top three spots going to 32 year old Amy Cragg in 2:28:20, 32 year old Desiree Linden in 2:28:54 and 34 year old Shalane Flanagan in 2:29:19. This will be Cragg's and Linden's first visit to the Olympics. Flanagan holds the 2nd fastest American marathon time ever (a 2:21:14 at the 2014 Berlin Marathon) and this will be her 4th visit to the Olympics, having competed in the 2004, 2008 and 2012 games.

Cragg and Flanagan  (Photo Credit: Carl Pytlinski)

Cragg and Flanagan  (Photo Credit: Carl Pytlinski)

Congratulations to all of the competitors and best of luck with some solid training to those who have earned the right to compete at the 2016 Olympic Games!

And for 26.2 training tips to complete your first marathon

Marathons within a one hour radius of Ventura County

Some extremely fit looking runners at the 2016 Olympic Marathon Trials  (Photo Credit: Carl Pytlinski)

Some extremely fit looking runners at the 2016 Olympic Marathon Trials  (Photo Credit: Carl Pytlinski)

The First and Only Netball Court in Thousand Oaks at Oakbrook Neighborhood Park

On the recent Mother's Day Sunday I was out and about with the kids giving their mother the ultimate present - peace and quiet. We ate breakfast and explored, but of course, the Conejo Valley. One park I hadn't seen for some time was the recently renovated Oakbrook Neighborhood Park at the corner of Erbes and Pederson Roads in Thousand Oaks.

OakbrookParkTOsign.JPG

This 14 acre park more than doubled in usable size last year with the addition of a jogging/bike path, grassy areas, basketball court, expanded playground area, restroom and even several horseshoe pits. I was thoroughly impressed at the upgrades.

OakbrookParkNetball.JPG

Then we noticed something odd. The backboards were missing on one of the basketball courts! Wait a second...how could this happen?? 

NetballNet.JPG

As my kids were laughing I noticed the large sign explaining the game of netball, a sport I'd never heard of in my nearly half century on this earth. Well, now I know a little bit about netball. With a little investigating on the Conejo Recreation & Park District website I learned that this is the first (and as of May 2013) the only netball court in Thousand Oaks.

CRPD has placed this sign explaining some netball basics to clueless folk like myself.

CRPD has placed this sign explaining some netball basics to clueless folk like myself.

The seven minute video below proved extremely useful in providing the basics of netball, a sport consisting of two teams of seven players looking to score goals in the baskets while holding the ball for no more than three seconds at a time. Looks fun! Also visit www.wikihow.com/Play-Netball.

Original Posting Date: 5/22/13