Poinsettia Park Tennis and Pickleball Courts — Local services in Carlsbad

I sometimes come to Poinsettia to get good reps for pickleball. I have played many times on the social side, and I have lately won matches on that side by large margins (i.e., 11-3). I have since transitioned to playing on the competitive side to challenge myself against good competitors to help myself improve as recommended by friends who are frequent players on the competitive courts. While this was not my first time, I went today to play more on the competitive courts. When I walked in, there was an immediate sense of pretentiousness and arrogance that filled the environment on these two courts. All of the people here on this day were friends, and they were not welcoming to people outside their clique. After a long wait, a younger lady with reddish hair in a ponytail and clear glasses (had some accent, likely European) and a disheveled guy (massive beard and honestly looked homeless) called my friend and me to play. This was my friend's first match of the day, as well as mine, so we were still warming up during the first few points. After some mistakes on our end, our arrogant competitors were laughing. A couple times, they attempted to cheat the score to end the match faster. My partner and I called them out for the wrong score, and they laughed and rolled their eyes. We ended up losing the match 8-11, which for our first match of the day, was not bad. We targeted the reddish-haired lady as she was low-level (about 3.0-3.25 level) compared to us and the other players there. After the match, the lady did not come to the net and ran away, and the bearded-guy did not thank us for the match but simply asked if we knew the difference between social and competitive courts because he said my partner and I were very bad at pickleball and did not deserve to play amongst the other players on competitive courts as it made the experience miserable, and it was a waste of their time. He kept repeating this was a common consensus amongst everyone (aka all their friends). Let me remind you, the score was 8-11, and the match lasted 20-25 minutes. It was not a blowout where they had the right to offer us harsh criticism as we clearly challenged them. Next, he said we clearly do not realize pickleball has an etiquette, and our choice to play on the courts that afternoon at what he thought was a horrible level (again, score was 8-11) violated etiquette. As we were grabbing our stuff, we had to pass by the paddle queue, and the reddish-haired lady immediately blocked the paddle area thinking we were trying to play again and said, "No, no, no! You both are trash and don't belong here where the greats are, like myself. If you want to continue playing, go to the social side or leave now! You don't have an option to stay here. Nobody likes you here." Last I checked, the courts are PUBLIC--she has no right to dictate where I can and can't go on public property as that is a violation of the law. Even if she did, the lady should have come along with us to the social side or left because she was lower level than we were. At the same time this happened, a new man lunged at us, almost grabbing us to push us out the exit door. When we left, the same man yelled at us and held onto the door to prevent us from re-accessing the courts. Pretentious people with zero remorse for their disgusting behavior. While they might not think we have etiquette for playing at a high-enough level (even though we almost beat them), they clearly have zero social etiquette, something that is far more important in life, and are happy to be verbally abusive to strangers. Unfortunately, nobody came to defend us despite the loud, obvious, and blatant disrespect. Again, IT'S PICKLEBALL, let alone at a public park! It's not supposed to be that deep, yet these people have no other lives expect for bullying developing, yet still...

I’ve played at the Poinsettia pickleball courts in Carlsbad a lot, and overall, it’s a great spot. Six free, well-maintained courts, good lighting for night play, and a solid mix of recreational and competitive players. Courts 1–4 are more social; 5 and 6 are challenge courts where winners stay on.

Usually, the vibe is positive and welcoming. Mornings and early evenings are the best times to show up. Just know that wait times can stretch to 30–45 minutes during busy hours.

That said, there’s one ongoing issue that really hurts the experience: a local homeschooling family regularly shows up and disrupts play. The parents are hands-off and aloof, and they let their youngest child—who clearly doesn’t know how to play—jump into games with strangers. The siblings won’t play with him, the dad won’t step in, and the mom becomes rude and defensive when anyone raises a concern.

It’s frustrating to wait all that time to finally get on the court, only to be paired with a child who can’t serve, return, or even understand what’s happening. It throws off the flow of play and puts everyone in an awkward position.

I still enjoy playing here, but I wish the city or someone in the community would step in to set clearer expectations about court etiquette and shared space. It’s a public park—we should all be able to enjoy it, but not at the cost of basic courtesy and...

There are many courts, and there are usually some free courts whenever I go there. There are sign in sheets that only some people use, and they are a bit confusing. If there are enough free tennis courts then you really shouldn't worry about how signing in and the confusion. Just go there to play tennis for a bit and enjoy life. The weather is great in Carlsbad, so that shouldn't be an issue. Almost any day of the year, people will be fine to go here and practice tennis. The surrounding park is also really pretty, so it's just an all around great experience. Highly recommend this place. Not a better place to play tennis...