Young calls pickleball a ‘quality-of-life’ issue as Caddo Commission prepares for third vote

SHREVEPORT, La. (KTAL/KMSS) – The Caddo Parish Commission is preparing for this week’s vote on pickleball and continuing to push back on misinformation about the proposal.

Residents continued to speak out against the $10 million pickleball park proposal during Monday’s commission work session. Before this, parish officials and commissioners have visited parks and community centers in their district to advocate for the proposal and inform residents of its details.

Commissioners said residents are alarmed when they hear “$10 million” in costs, and are not understanding it’s a 30-year revenue bond proposal to open a multi-course complex.

Commissioner John-Paul Young stated that the city requires investment to retain and attract residents as the population continues to decline.

“Caddo Parish and Shreveport are losing about 3,000 people a year. The people who are moving away are not a random selection of people. They are middle-class, upper-middle class people with families and kids. They’re also retirees. Those are the demographics who play pickleball. Pickleball is a quality-of-life element. If everybody keeps moving away from Shreveport, it’s not going to matter how much money we borrow. We’ve got to turn this city around. We can’t do it by saying no to every idea that comes up and never offering a suggestion of something else to do,” Young said.

The commission is scheduled to vote on the proposal for the third time this Thursday during their regular meeting.