TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (WTWO/WAWV) — Community members gathered Friday night at Brittlebank Park to celebrate the two men that are credited with introducing pickleball to Terre Haute.
Paul Barksdale and Rex Lawler are the pillars for pickleball’s growing popularity in Terre Haute.
Lawler owns a sports shop in Terre Haute where he and Barksdale began the groundwork to build the game in the area.
They did this by advocating for Brittlebank Park to have multiple pickleball courts.
“They sent me and I went to a parks department board meeting and tried to talk to them into converting this to strictly a pickleball court,” Lawler said. “Long story short, that’s what happened and that’s why we’ve been here for fifteen years.”
Pickleball is quite similar to tennis, but is played with tennis racquet sized paddles and on a smaller court.
