BROWNSTOWN — A increasingly popular sport that can be played by people of all ages — and with little to no athletic ability — may soon have a venue of its own in the town park.

On Monday evening, a group of Brownstown residents led by Nancy and Dennis Sterling talked about plans to build four pickleball courts on a piece of land recently added to the park at 905 W. Bridge St.

Pickleball is a paddleball sport that combines elements of badminton, table tennis and tennis. Two or four players use solid paddles to hit a ball, much like a Wiffle ball, over a net.

“We kind of want to bring you up-to-date on where we are right now,” Nancy Sterling told councilmembers during their meeting at town hall.

“We have formed the Brownstown Pickleball Association and it’s a 10-member board,” she said.

Nancy said the board has put together a 5-year plan for constructing four pickleball courts, a restroom and a shelter house.

She said the association board has talked with Dan Davis, president and CEO of the Community Foundation of Jackson County, about establishing a fund to hold donations and grants for the association.

When the association needs to pay for any projects related to the construction of the pickleball courts such as asphalt, lights or groundwork, they would request funds from the council. The council would in turn ask the community foundation for monies from the pickleball account to pay for the work.

Nancy said it shouldn’t be an accounting nightmare for the town.

“It would be money in, money out,” she said. “You would be acting as the fiscal agent. We feel we can go out and raise all the money to do all the construction and get everything funded.”

Nancy said the association can’t accept donations and grants because it’s not a 501(c)(3) yet and that’s why the town is needed.

Dennis Sterling said since the town owns the land and will continue to do so, the association wants to make sure the town approves of any work that might be done during construction.

“We want to be very transparent with what we are doing,” Nancy said.

She said the association board feels as if it can oversee the work to get it taken care of and make it as painless as possible for the town.

“We are not going to be a financial burden to the town,” Nancy said.

During and after construction, the association plans to hold tournaments twice a year and provide up to 20 hours of clinics and use the fees from those activities to do any maintenance, upkeep and repairs on the venue, she said.

Seymour presently has two pickleball courts at Gaiser Park and is in the process of adding two. Nancy said Bedford also has six pickleball courts and there are eight courts in Daviess County.

“So small communities are making this happen to get people off the couch and out into the fresh air doing more,” she said.

Councilwoman Sharon Koch asked the Sterlings if lights would be installed at the pickleball courts.

Nancy said she wasn’t sure about the needs for lights, but there would be the need for water once the restrooms are built.

“Of course, the restroom and the shelter house are a ways down that road,” she said. “The pickleball courts are the main thing right now.”

Dennis said the association would be willing to help pay any utility bills related to the venue, and Nancy added that the association had spoken with the town’s insurance agent and were told the pickleball courts would be covered under the town’s present policy.

Koch said she was sure any use of water and electricity with the addition of the courts would be minimal.

The pickleball courts would be a built on a 1.53-acre piece of land donated to the town for the park in 2022 by town resident Mike Tormoehlen. The site was once a mobile home park.

Dennis Sterling said a pickleball court is 22-by-40-foot and four would fit inside a regular tennis court.

Nancy said local pickleballers have been playing at night at the high school tennis courts and during the winter after volleyball, they have been playing at the middle school.

She said the association plans to apply for a $20,000 grant, which has a deadline on Oct. 31, but the council’s approval to serve as the fiscal agent needs to be in place before applying for the grant. That grant requires a $20,000 local match to get the ball rolling.

The council agreed to table the request until the Oct. 18 meeting to allow the two councilmembers, Greg Goshorn and Crystal Stuckwisch, absent Monday evening, a chance to review it.