On active days, Sarah Wong sometimes waits 30 minutes between matches at Pasadena’s Allendale Park for a pickleball court to open, doing mini workouts to stay warm.

Soon Pasadena picklers like Wong will have more places to play, but still some players say the city’s pickleball court selection isn’t keeping up with the growth of one of the nation’s fastest growing sports.

This week the Pasadena City Council approved a contract to construct two new temporary pickleball courts at the “reimagined” Jefferson School campus, which the city has leased for library, police and fire department programs into 2027. The courts will be open weekdays 8 a.m. to dusk and weekends from 9 a.m. to dusk.

Once they’re complete this summer, there’ll be a dozen pickleball courts across the city, at McDonald Park, McKinley School, and Pasadena’s most popular pickleball destination, Allendale Park.

Wong started playing at Allendale a year and half ago and quickly fell in love with the sport. She plays there almost every day and has at times spent over 11 straight hours at the park.

An avid tennis player, Wong avoided the deceivingly tricky sport for years until she found a paddle that allowed her to recreate backspin and translate her skills to the pickleball court. Now she no longer plays tennis.

“It was really easy to get started, everybody there was so helpful and welcoming,” she said. “I just show up with my paddle and there’s people playing every day, every night.”

Last year, USA Pickleball membership grew 30% nationwide, bringing the number of registered players to nearly 70,000. With a professional league that even superstar athletes of other sports are taking notice of, pickleball has struck a chord across the country.

In Pasadena, that popularity means about a dozen new players any given day and long wait times that have been great for making friends — Allendale picklers even organize a monthly potluck — but make it difficult to get some court time.

Though pickleball players like Wong welcome the new courts, because they’ll close at dusk, they fear they won’t make a dent in the Allendale wait times.

Last year, four courts at McKinley School opened to the public during the school year from 4:30 p.m. to dusk on weekdays and from 9 a.m. to dusk on weekends.

But according to Wong, because there are no lights and many players come after work, the courts haven’t thinned the Allendale crowd.

Two more courts are scheduled to be constructed at Vina Vieja park next year. Until then, Wong said she’s noticed the packed courts can deter newcomers, but for most regulars it’s the people that keeps them coming back anyway.

“I’m an empty nester, I can stay home and sit on the couch and watch TV, but I’m an active person,” she said. “I play some games and get to see my friends, get to be active. That’s what makes me go every single day.”