Harper Park

As a native of North Carolina, I am shocked by what I experienced today at this park. I came back home to visit my family, and decided to meet up at Harper Park to play a couple games of tennis with my best friend. Upon arriving, we noticed that there was only one tennis court not being used (no loose balls on the court, no ball machine near, no personal equipment near the court)—so we decided to make our way to that court. As we entered the gate and started walking towards the court, a man who stated he was a tennis instructor aggressively walked towards me and asked me “what do you think you’re doing?” To that, I said “about to play on the court next to you.” He said “no you are not. There is a sign that states “we” have these courts reserved. I replied with “where is the sign? I’ve never played at this park before.” (He couldn’t show me.) Once he realized I wasn’t an idiot, he got extremely defensive and asked me what my name was and proceeded to say “Maybe we do things differently than where you’re from—you do not belong here. You wished you could play here.” At this point, this conversation was no longer about tennis—and it’s now a personal attack against me. He continued to raise his voice (in front of all the youth girls he was “instructing”—as if he wanted to cause a bigger scene). He eventually realized that this conversation was going nowhere and sarcastically told me “Have a Good Day, sir!”. This was not on my bingo card today.

Oh, and while we waited for another court to open up, we observed how aggressively he was speaking to the young girls he was “instructing.”

Description of Individual:

5”10’-5”11’
230-250 pounds
Stout around the stomach
Black
Black hair
Possibly early 60’s

Very Nice place to play Pickleball or Tennis! The courts are clean and maintained well. The people are very nice in comparison to some other courts and are very beginner friendly. There are also regulars there that offer a more challenging option if that is what you are looking for! The facilities are nice as well. With a bunch of vending machines, a water fountain and very clean bathrooms. Would highly recommend

My son and I have enjoyed coming to the playground on some evenings. My son is a type of kid who likes a variety of outdoor activities,, &: this was a nice addition to the knightdale community . I like that the playground area is less spread out vs. knightdale station park.... but kids can still have fun playing here. One of the first times we ever came here my son accidentally got hurt trying to get off the spinning toy. So we're more cautious whenever he plays on that toy now.
Also compared to the playground I grew up going to when I was a younger kid, (about 20 years ago). 🤣 this is a major improvement & 10 times better than the (original Harper Park) playground with sand area & gazebo. 😅

Intensely crowded on a Saturday afternoon. We were scared to let our kids out, so we went elsewhere.

We love Harper Park for lunch we will grab lunch at a local restaurant and head out to the shelter and sit and enjoy the people playing pickleball or tennis and watch the kids on the playground and just enjoy the quiet and beautiful atmosphere.