Pickleball and Tennis — Sebastian, Florida

Public courts in Sebastian are spread across three city parks, each with a different specialty. The Sebastian Pickleball Complex on Airport Drive East is the city's dedicated pickleball site, with 8 courts. Schumann Drive Park holds the City of Sebastian's asphalt tennis courts: 6 lighted courts, 2 of which also carry pickleball lines. Friendship Park, behind Sebastian City Hall, has four Har-Tru clay tennis courts that are reserved by session.

Indian River County adds one more option inside the Sebastian area. West Wabasso Park, a county park with a Sebastian mailing address, lists a lighted pickleball court alongside two lighted basketball courts and a lighted multi-purpose field. The arrangement means Sebastian players move between a free, first-come pickleball complex near the airport, lighted courts at Schumann Drive Park, and a reserved clay court program near City Hall, with county courts filling in to the west.

The City of Sebastian states that the Sebastian Pickleball Complex opened in March 2020. The park is home to 8 pickleball courts with a shade shelter and restroom facilities, and the courts are open to the public from dawn to dusk and are free of charge, according to the city facility listing. No reservation system is described for these courts, which distinguishes them from the clay tennis program at Friendship Park.

The location is unusual. The complex sits at 160 Airport Drive East, between the Sebastian Municipal Golf Course and Sebastian Municipal Airport, and the city notes that players get a view of the airplanes and skydivers that use the airport daily. That places the courts in the same city-owned corridor as the golf course and the airport rather than in a residential neighborhood park.

The site was not the first one considered. In March 2016, Vero News reported that the Sebastian Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee was weighing Friendship Park and Hardee Park for pickleball. Friendship Park would have required removing a little-used baseball field, and moving that field to Filbert Street Park drew objections from nearby residents. The paper reported that the city planned to install at least eight courts, which can accommodate as many as 32 players at a time, and that City Manager Joe Griffin said Hardee Park would be the fastest and least expensive option. The eight courts that opened in 2020 on Airport Drive East match the number discussed in 2016.

Schumann Drive Park, at 1096 Schumann Drive, is described by the City of Sebastian as a community park that is home to the city's asphalt tennis courts. There are 6 lighted tennis courts, 2 with pickleball lines as well, and 2 lighted basketball courts, plus a playground, swing set, shade shelters, a pavilion and restrooms, according to the city. Because the courts are lighted, Schumann is the city's tennis site for evening hard-court play.

The courts have been rebuilt before. In September 2009, Vero News reported that the tennis courts at Schumann Park were being resurfaced and two new basketball courts were being striped. The basketball courts replaced racquetball courts that had been damaged during the 2004 hurricane season, after residents asked for basketball instead. City Manager Al Minner described the park as extremely dilapidated before the work, and parks staff estimated that between 40 and 60 people used Schumann Park daily.

Schumann has also hosted youth tennis. In September 2012, Vero News reported that tennis players from the Sebastian River High School program were donating six Saturdays to offer low-cost lessons for Sebastian children ages 5 to 10 at the Schumann Tennis Complex, starting with the Nickelodeon Worldwide Day of Play. By August 2015, Vero News listed Schumann Tennis Park with tennis, pickleball and basketball among the 20 parks in the City of Sebastian inventory, so pickleball lines at Schumann predate the dedicated complex.

Friendship Park, at 1440 Friendship Lane, is home to the City of Sebastian's four Har-Tru clay tennis courts, which the city reports were resurfaced in July 2020. The city describes Sebastian as the only municipality in the area to offer clay tennis courts. Unlike the free pickleball courts, the clay courts are booked through the Friendship Park Tennis Office.

Play is organized in sessions. Each session at Friendship Park is 1 hour and 45 minutes and includes tax, with start times at 8am, 10am, 3pm, 5pm and 7pm. The courts run 8am to 12pm and 3pm to 9pm Monday through Saturday, and 8am to 12pm on Sunday. Fees are set by City of Sebastian Resolution No. R-20-24: $5.00 for a resident session, $7.00 for a non-resident session and $3.00 for juniors under 18.

Annual passes under R-20-24 range from $100 for a resident junior to $600 for a non-resident family. A resident single annual pass is $350, a resident family pass is $450 and a resident senior (65 and over) single pass is $250; the non-resident single pass is $500. Friendship Park also has a playground, a multi-purpose field and a large pavilion that can be rented. In 2015, Vero News listed shuffleboard, bocce and horseshoes at Friendship Park as well.

West Wabasso Park, at 8900 64th Avenue with a Sebastian mailing address, is the nearest Indian River County park with a pickleball court. The county lists a lighted pickleball court, two lighted basketball courts, a lighted multi-purpose field, outdoor fitness equipment and a walking trail, and notes that the park serves as the entrance to the 130-acre Wabasso Scrub Conservation Area. County park rules there prohibit pets and alcohol.

For a larger concentration of courts, Indian River County operates Dick Bird Park in Vero Beach, south of Sebastian. The county listing shows 12 lighted pickleball courts and 2 lighted tennis courts at the 72.7-acre park. In June 2023, Vero News reported that the construction cost for the new pickleball courts and the resurfacing and refencing of the tennis courts was $1.035 million, and that the county's Intergenerational Center runs indoor open-gym pickleball on six courts. Those county facilities sit outside Sebastian, so the Airport Drive East complex remains the main dedicated pickleball site within the city.