{"id":195902,"date":"2026-02-27T03:42:08","date_gmt":"2026-02-27T03:42:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/195902\/"},"modified":"2026-02-27T03:42:08","modified_gmt":"2026-02-27T03:42:08","slug":"oaklands-black-owned-pickleball-facility-aims-to-broaden-the-sports-reach","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/195902\/","title":{"rendered":"Oakland’s Black-owned pickleball facility aims to broaden the sport’s reach"},"content":{"rendered":"

Three years ago, when Dee Johnson boarded a cruise to Panama, she wasn’t searching for love. Still, something was waiting for her on the top deck. Not a person, a pickleball court.<\/p>\n

“I thought I was gonna play one time, but it was addicting. I went back and back and back,” she said.<\/p>\n

Johnson, an Oakland real estate broker, didn’t just test the waters, she dove in headfirst.<\/p>\n

“I’m actually ready to retire so I can play every day,” she said.<\/p>\n

Pickleball has been smashing expectations nationwide. According to the Sports & Fitness Industry Association<\/a>, it’s been America’s fastest-growing sport for four straight years. Now it’s finding a new footing in the Black community. African Americans make up about 7% of players<\/a> \u2014 still underrepresented, but gaining ground in a game that hasn’t always shared the court.<\/p>\n

That shift matters to Maryanna Quigless and her wife Kady Pooler, who are working to change the face of the sport one serve at a time.<\/p>\n

“That’s what we want to see is more Black people playing pickleball,” she said.<\/p>\n

They say their Oakland facility, Pickle Athletics<\/a>, is the first Black-owned pickleball venue in the country, proof that ownership can be as powerful as a well-placed dink.<\/p>\n

For Quigless, the appeal is simple and strategic.<\/p>\n

“One, it’s very fun. Two, it’s actually accessible. Anyone can come in and play; you can play with your family. And three, we’re good at it,” she said.<\/p>\n

The sport’s surge has some heavy hitters behind it. Jamie Foxx, Kevin Durant and LeBron James have all picked up paddles, adding celebrity spin to an already fast-moving rally.<\/p>\n

Michael Atherley of the African-American Pickleball Association<\/a> has watched membership climb as more players step to the baseline.<\/p>\n

“We want that African American representation so that we have a seat at the table,” he said.<\/p>\n

Still, the bigger picture is clear: this isn’t just about a game. It’s about access, ownership and showing up where doors were once closed.<\/p>\n

“You can’t keep Black people out of stuff, we’re going to find a way,” Johnson said.<\/p>\n

In:<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Three years ago, when Dee Johnson boarded a cruise to Panama, she wasn’t searching for love. Still, something…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":195903,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[68879,143,145,144],"class_list":["post-195902","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-oakland","tag-black-history-month","tag-oakland","tag-oakland-headlines","tag-oakland-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/195902","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=195902"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/195902\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/195903"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=195902"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=195902"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=195902"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}