Wheeling City Council members stunned Pat Carroll at their meeting Tuesday night when they unanimously decided to rename pickleball courts in Elm Grove after him.
Credited as the man who brought the sport of pickleball to Wheeling, Carroll helped establish the first courts in the city and planted the seeds of pickleball fever that have since grown to become a wildly popular sport in the city and throughout the Ohio Valley.
During Tuesday night’s council meeting, Carroll was invited to attend, and a resolution regarding the Patterson Playground in Elm Grove was listed on the agenda. But the specific nature of the resolution was intentionally left vague and was to be revealed during the meeting.
Ward 6 Councilman Dave Palmer, who represents the Elm Grove neighborhood, read the resolution to rename the new pickleball courts at the Patterson Sports Complex in Elm Grove as the Pat Carroll Pickleball Courts.
Friends and fellow pickleball enthusiasts erupted in an ovation of applause when the resolution was approved.
“It was a complete surprise,” Carroll said. “They tricked me into coming here. It’s quite an honor and a complete shock. I wasn’t looking for the recognition when we built the courts — it’s something we did for the city.”
Carroll said he played earlier that day — indoors, of course.
“There are courts being built all over the city now,” he noted. “It’s great for all ages, that’s the nice thing about it. … It can be played by anybody from age 10 and up. We have guys who are 90 years old who are playing.”
While the sport is popular today, pickleball was basically unknown in the area back in 2010 when Carroll first brought the idea of having courts available to players in Wheeling. In the spring of 2011, Wheeling City Council passed a resolution that permitted Carroll to lease a tennis court at the Patterson complex. He invested his own personal funds into creating four pickleball courts there, which served as a catalyst to what the sport has become in the area today.
Recognizing the popularity of pickleball in Wheeling, city council on Sept. 17, 2024, the city of Wheeling approved the funding for eight pickleball courts for the Patterson Sports Complex. A $71,000 allocation was approved for the new courts, which is viewed as an economic investment. Officials said a complex needs a minimum of eight courts to host pickleball tournaments, so once the new courts are finished, Wheeling could welcome pickleball players from outside the area for tournament play in the future.
Palmer said the new courts at Patterson should be completed and ready this coming spring.
Mayor Denny Magruder said Carroll has been a friend of his for decades.
“This man has always been a great teammate and an exceptional leader,” the mayor said. “As a friend and a citizen of this community, thank you for what you’ve done for our city.”
In other action Tuesday night, council members remarked on the brutal stretch of wintry weather that has gripped the valley in recent weeks.
Four new trucks with snow plows and salt spreaders were recently put into service and will continue to work throughout the winter, officials noted.
