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Berkshire Mountain Pickleball Continues Growing

Michael Gilardi, left, Janice Uliasz, and Gary Schiff were enjoying a game at the courts at Springside Park in Pittsfield recently.

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Berkshire Mountain Pickleball is reaching a record high membership.

The local pickleball group has almost reached 500 players, a record since its founding in 2018 by Michael Gilardi. 

Gilardi said he started playing in 2017 with only 10 people at the Boys and Girls Club, playing there and outside at Reid and Herberg middle schools before the city built courts in 2024 at Springside Park.

He said finally getting a space to play has had a big impact.

"That's quite an impact on the community and everything else that they know. There's a sport here that they can enjoy and grow and everything else, and have fun," Gilardi said. 

On a recent Friday, players filled all of the six courts with experienced players and some learning to play for the first time.

Steering Committee member Gary Schiff has been playing for about five years. He said it has become very popular especially, with the new courts.

"My wife and I came one Saturday, and we didn't even know what pickleball was. We were tennis players, but anyway, and it blossomed from there because it's become very popular in the Berkshires," he said. "I mean, you can see all the people that are here, and we, and then the city was so generous to build these courts, which really just changed everything."

Schiff said pickleball is for everyone to enjoy.

"You don't have to be young. You can be older and not necessarily that athletic, and you can really have fun. The learning curve is fast. So it's not like golf or tennis or a lot of other sports where you could need a lot of lessons and a lot of playing time to really feel like you're becoming proficient, for pickleball it's sort of a really quick for most people, a really quick round ball, it's very addictive," he said. 

Janice Uliasz has been on the Steering Committee for 11 years and said not only is it a great workout but a great place to be social, and that the group puts on events to keep everyone together.

"It's great cardio. It's great exercise. You meet so many nice people, and there's a social element," she said. "There's so many friends that I've made through pickleball, and we do have social events."

Gilardi said he hopes to keep expanding in Pittsfield with more courts as the Springside ones are getting overcrowded.

You can sign up on the group's website to join or learn how to play to see if you want to stick with it.

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