Dynamite Pickleball Intends to Keep Sports Organizations at Earl Warren

We write to clear up misinformation being presented on social media, emails, and perhaps word of mouth. We have also had several direct messages to our site or to us personally with this incorrect information, so we feel it is time to present our information of what has truly transpired.

It is true that the Dynamite Pickleball team has recently submitted a proposal to Earl Warren to start leasing the space at Earl Warren in the hockey rink area. The current lease that Santa Barbara Roller Hockey (SBRH) has with Earl Warren is ending on June 30, 2023. Dynamite Pickleball is putting their name in the hat to operate this space starting July 1, 2023-June 30, 2024. Dynamite Pickleball has been encouraged by many to submit this proposal to Earl Warren to become the new lease holder specifically to help support the new mission created by Earl Warren back in March 2023.

If Dynamite Pickleball were awarded this lease, it would begin on July 1, 2023, and would run for one year. If things go well during this one-year trial period, there may be an option to extend the contract by three years. In our proposal, we informed Earl Warren that we would keep the same existing groups, we would keep their same time slots they have now, and we would do this at the same rates they are paying now. Not only that, we offered to give the SBRH group four hours of free rental time per week — which is all the times they use it now — for all their work they have done over the past 10 years, and as an appreciation of their volunteer efforts for so long. We felt the need to put in a proposal because we have the time and energy to focus on this property daily.

This location is a prime location, but it needs more attention than a volunteer board can provide. We appreciate what efforts have been done, but in order to improve this location for the existing groups, and to attract other groups, we need to have someone there on a daily basis. We are prepared to do this.

Please also note, the times that Dynamite Pickleball has been using the facility is from 9 a.m.noon, Monday-Friday, and about 14 hours on the weekend; we are currently at the property roughly 25-30 hours a week. All of the hours that we asked for were hours that were not in use by any other group.

In our proposal we have been direct in saying that we believe in Earl Warren’s new mission and we would manage the courts accordingly. If we receive the management of the new lease, we have every intention to keep the current hours and other sporting organizations at the courts: Futsal, Roller Derby, and Roller Hockey. In the future, we would like to also figure out how to add other sporting organizations.

In our proposal, we also informed Earl Warren that the number one issue that we have heard from all the groups renting this area is that the surface is in bad shape. We are willing to invest $25,000 toward improvements in our first year at the rink, and if Dynamite is awarded this new lease by EW, we will begin meeting with the various group leaders who are currently there to discuss next steps needed to make improvements.

Our ultimate goal is to see the space being utilized by the community, and we adhere fully to the Earl Warren mission to create and sustain a space for multi-sports.

Dave and Tracy, along with Ben Sample, started Santa Barbara Pickleball Club because we saw a need in our community to bring pickleball to more of our community members. Dave and Tracy are a family with seven children, and Ben has three children, and we have invested countless hours into our community volunteering many hours coaching soccer, basketball, and teaching pickleball, as well as being on various different boards within the community. We have participated in many of the sporting organizations, including Futsal, weekly at the Earl Warren courts. We directly benefit from Joga Futsal being on the courts at Earl Warren.

As of the end of June 2023, Santa Barbara Pickleball Club has more than 130 active members using the courts on a weekly basis with roughly 100 other non-members using the courts on a monthly basis. We serve a diverse number of members of our community from the ages of 8 years old to 84 years old, and we keep it affordable for the community.