"We did it on hands and knees, tape in hand, pushing ourselves across the court. It was over here at Deane Hill Community Center."
That is how Aaron Browning, deputy director of Knoxville Parks and Recreation, described the city's first pickleball lines in a September WBIR story. He placed it about thirteen years ago, on a community center basketball court. Deane Hill sits just outside West Hills. Two years after that tape went down, the city opened its first outdoor pickleball courts at West Hills / John Bynon Park, 7624 Sheffield Drive. Eleven years later, those six courts hold most of what is on the neighborhood's fall calendar.
A head start the rest of the city spent years catching up to
A June 2017 Parks and Recreation presentation laid out the early timeline in order:
- Sept. 9, 2013: First open pickleball offering at Deane Hill
- Winter 2013–14: First facility with permanent court lines instead of tape
- Sept. 13, 2015: West Hills courts open
- November 2015: West Hills courts receive a TRPA award
- April 2016: First tournament at West Hills Park
- Fall 2016: Sam Duff Park courts open
When that presentation was written, Knoxville had 10 outdoor pickleball courts in two parks, and six of them were at West Hills. WBIR's September 2026 story gives the same citywide figure: 10 outdoor courts open to the public at no charge, first come, first served unless they are reserved for a ladder or an approved tournament. Indoor play has spread much further. Pickleball lines are now painted in 13 community centers, and Inskip and Tyson parks have added lines to resurfaced tennis courts. Permanent outdoor courts are still limited to a few parks: West Hills, Lakeshore and Sam Duff Memorial.
That is the main reason the Sheffield Drive courts stay busy. A neighborhood park with six dedicated outdoor courts gets used like a citywide facility. Browning told WBIR that the city's Pickleball Ladder Program has kept filling each week.
Three programs, one set of courts
This fall, the city and a residents' group have each booked the same six courts, sometimes a few days apart.
| Date | Event | Organizer | What's confirmed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sept. 8 – Oct. 29 | Round Robin Pickleball Ladder | Knoxville Parks and Recreation | Registration required; listed sessions run Thursdays, noon to 2 p.m. |
| Sept. 19 | Pickleball for a Purpose | Listed on the City calendar | 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. at West Hills / John Bynon Park |
| Oct. 17 | West Hills Pickleball Tournament and skills clinic | Healthy West Hills | Saturday, 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the park's courts |
The ladder still has four weeks left. The city's RecDesk listing for the Oct. 22 session shows noon to 2 p.m., ages 16 and up, and a fee of $2 for city residents and $3 for nonresidents. Another session is listed for Thursday, Oct. 1. The ladder runs through Oct. 29.
The Sept. 19 event has already happened. The City calendar entry lists only the title, the hours and the park. It does not name a beneficiary or publish results.
When none of these programs has the courts reserved, the six courts are open to anyone. The park itself is open dawn to dusk unless signs say otherwise.
The committee behind the Oct. 17 clinic
The tournament on the 17th is organized by neighbors. The West Hills neighborhood association's site lists Healthy West Hills among its committee chair reports, with Anne Crais as chair. The group is the neighborhood's part of Healthy Knoxville, a program run by the City's Office of Neighborhood Empowerment. The group lists regular pickleball meetups, the annual tournament and skills clinic, bike rides, a monthly mileage challenge, book discussions, neighbor meetups and virtual readings. It also says it placed tobacco-prevention signs. The committee says its 2024 participation earned the Healthy Knoxville program's Platinum Award.
That background shapes what the Oct. 17 event is. It is a neighborhood committee's yearly event held at a city park, and the skills clinic is part of it. Pickleball is one item in a longer list of activities the group runs.
Registration details for this year had not been posted as of Sept. 30. The City calendar entry gives no fee, signup link or deadline. Last year's clinic is the best reference for now. On Oct. 18, 2025, it ran from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. and cost $20 for players 16 and older. Younger players played free when a parent registered them, and signups closed on the Wednesday before. If 2026 follows the same pattern, the deadline would land around Oct. 15. Those are last year's terms, though, not a published schedule for this year. Residents can ask to join the monthly Healthy West Hills email schedule through the association's site.
What turned over a few blocks away
The courts' schedule looks especially steady next to the commercial corridor along Kingston Pike, which changed several times this year.
On Sept. 9, WVLT reported a sign on the door of the Kingston Pike O'Charley's that read "Thank you for your business and support over the years. We will miss serving you." The Tennessean listed that restaurant at 8077 Kingston Pike, one of the locations closing that day. The chain was founded in Nashville in 1971. The Tennessean reported that the chain has shrunk from more than 200 restaurants to about 44, and that the company had not officially confirmed the widespread closures.
Around the corner, the former Joann Fabrics at 276 Morrell Road is being turned into a Bob's Discount Furniture showroom. Knox News reported in June that the work should be finished by the end of 2026. No opening day has been announced.
West Town Mall announced seven additions in April: Mango Thai, Perfumania, Capital One Café, Garage, Miss A, Free People Movement and JD Sports. Their planned openings ran from April through July. The mall's homepage now marks FP Movement as "Now Open" and features Corn Dogs by Mr. Cow as a "New Hotspot." The other announced stores are best treated as planned until the mall confirms them.
National chains open and close on their own business timelines, and none of these changes came from the neighborhood. The courts on Sheffield Drive work differently. The city sets the ladder schedule, and a residents' committee books the October Saturday. The courts have held that role every fall since 2015.
Getting on the courts this fall
- For the city ladder, register through Knoxville Parks and Recreation's pickleball page or RecDesk. The remaining Thursday sessions run through Oct. 29, with fees of $2 for residents and $3 for nonresidents.
- For Oct. 17, watch the West Hills association's Healthy West Hills page for this year's signup. Last year's deadline was the Wednesday before the clinic.
- For casual play, the six courts are free and first come, first served whenever they aren't reserved for a ladder or tournament. The City's park listing does not say whether the courts have lights, so plan around dawn-to-dusk park hours.
- For indoor play when the weather turns, the city's fall indoor schedule includes Deane Hill Community Center, where the first taped lines went down.
For many West Hills households, how far they live from a park like John Bynon is part of how the neighborhood fits their week. If you are weighing a move within West Hills, or out of it, Terri Lawson can talk through how places like these factor into a home decision, without any pressure. Let's Connect.
