AUGUSTA — Every morning at Calumet Park, the only sound more distinct than plastic balls bouncing off paddles is the sound of laughter echoing across the pickleball courts.

Each day in the summer, around two dozen people gather at the park to play pickleball. The competition is always friendly, spirits are always high and everyone is always welcome, the players say.

And when cracks began to appear on the surface of the courts, the group banded together to come up with $900 and fixed the surface themselves, refusing to let the damage get in the way of the sport they love.

“We can’t have the courts like that,” Robin Weeks, the social director for the group, said. “We’re representing Augusta, Maine, the capital.”

Pickleball, a paddle sport similar to tennis but on a smaller court, has exploded in popularity across the country over the past few years and is widely considered to be one of the fastest-growing sports in America.

Calumet Park features four outdoor courts, and each can have four people playing at a time. Every morning, players put their paddles in a pile and pair them off to randomize partners.

While people wait for their turn to play, they sit on benches chatting and cheering on their fellow players.

“We can be out there and make mistakes, laugh at ourselves, laugh at each other,” Marcia Burns, a regular player, said. “It’s a lot of fun and just so much socialization.”

Weeks started playing at the Calumet courts with a few other people three years ago after feeling restricted by the schedule and longer wait times for court space at the YMCA, she said.

She said she loves playing because she gets to be outside enjoying the company of others and that no game is ever the same. Although the gameplay is fast-paced and, at times, intense, the players always have smiles on their faces.

Over the years, the group has grown in size as word has spread. Weeks said sometimes even people visiting Augusta on vacation will come and play with them after seeing the group listed on online pickleball websites. When it gets too cold in the winter, the group plays inside at the Buker Community Center.

While most people in the group are in their 60s and 70s, people of all ages have joined them to learn and play.

“It’s just great people, they don’t care about winning,” Weeks said. “They just care about playing the game, the love of the game and just teaching people how to play.”

When cracks formed and worsened in the asphalt surface of the courts last year, Weeks said it began to affect gameplay, causing the ball to go dead and not bounce, as well as raising safety concerns as a tripping hazard.

Not wanting to wait any longer for repairs, the players decided to take matters into their own hands. They chipped in to raise $900 for materials, got permission from the city and six of them completed the repairs in July.

Dave Michaud, one of the players who has a background in concrete repair, said the process involved chiseling out all of the cracks and filling them in with a quick-setting mortar before repainting the surface. The repairs took about four days to complete.

“It’s not perfect, but it works a lot better, and it looks a lot better,” Weeks said. “It’s something we can be proud of.”

Michaud said many people didn’t want to play on the courts last year because the surface was so cracked. But since they repaired them, their pickleball group has only grown.

“It’s a community of people,” Michaud said. “It’s just camaraderie, people are nice and friendly, you know, it’s a competitive game, but yet, everybody cheers each other on.”

Earl Kingsbury, director of the Augusta Department of Community Services, said the city patched some of the cracks in the courts around two years ago, but, as a temporary fix, it only lasted for a short amount of time.

The city put aside money in the Capital Improvement program last year to redo the courts and were approved to use the funds in the spring. Kingsbury said he opted to schedule the project for the fall as completing it earlier would make the courts unplayable over the summer while the new pavement took time to set.

If there is enough space and money, Kingsbury said he hopes to add more court space at the park during the renovation.

“The pickleball community is a growing community,” Kingsbury said. “It is the fastest growing sport in America, and I see that it’s the fastest growing sport in Augusta.”

For anyone looking to join in on the fun, the group plays at Calumet Park most mornings, weather-permitting, around 8-10 a.m. into early fall.

“Anybody that comes by that wants to play, no judgement, no criticism, nothing,” Weeks said.