Locals See Opportunity To Make Crossville The Pickleball Capital Of Tennessee

Crossville might be the golf capital of Tennessee, but one group is looking to make Crossville the pickleball capital of Tennessee.

Cumberland County Pickleball Ambassador Chuck Black said with 28 courts already available, the foundation is there. Black said the rest of the region is falling behind on the growing sport and Crossville can capitalize.

“There’s a lot of pickleball and there’s very good quality pickleball,” Black said. “So people who are looking for that are buying houses in the area and settling in. I know quite a few people who have been full time RV’ers and looking for this and now they have settled into the Crossville area because this is where they want to stay now. They bought property.”

Black said the next steps he has brought to the city council is to boost infrastructure. Black said the best next steps include a court reservation system for Centennial Park, LED lighting at the park and even more courts.

Black said with a new indoor recreation center on the horizon, the future is bright for Crossville pickleball.

“To be the pickleball capital of Tennessee we’re going to have to have both Fairfield Glade and Centennial Park,” Black said. “We have a lot of people who come from Crossville to Fairfield Glade to play and people from Fairfield Glade come to Crossville to play, so there’s a big cross pollination. So I think it’s very important to have that synergy between the two areas to become the pickleball capital of Tennessee.”

Black said there are 16 outdoor courts between Fairfield Glade and Centennial Park, the city also has 12 indoor courts. He said that is a large part in why many Cookeville residents make their way to Crossville, since Cookeville has no dedicated outdoor courts.