A fun-for-all-ages sport with a funny name is exploding in popularity across Canada and beyond, and the Georgian Triangle Pickleball Club wants to make sure Collingwood isn’t left behind.
Club President Brenda Wretham spoke in a deputation before councillors as part of Monday’s (June 6) corporate and community services standing committee meeting, to plead with councillors to add pickleball facilities in town. Currently, Wretham said the club is having to rent space or use spaces not meant for pickleball for their league to play. The club consists of approximately 300 members and a waitlist of 75.
“We want to throw our enthusiastic support behind the construction of dedicated pickleball courts here in Collingwood,” said Wretham. “We’ve frozen our membership and stopped taking waitlist names as we simply can’t accommodate any more players on our roster.”
As part of her presentation, Wretham noted pickleball is the fastest growing sport in North America.
“It’s inter-generational, socially inclusive and excellent for both physical and mental health,” she said.
Wretham said Thornbury and Wasaga Beach each have dedicated courts. Currently, the club uses the outdoor rinks at Central Park, and sometimes rents space from Swing Courts, which Wretham said is not ideal.
“It’s a cement surface and the nets are kept in a locked box. We set up and dismantle nets at each of our play sessions,” she said, adding that as the Central Park rinks are designed to hold water, whenever it rains the rinks aren’t able to be used for pickleball for days afterward.
When it came time for councillors to ask questions, Acting Deputy Mayor Mariane McLeod had a simple question for the deputant.
“Would 12 be enough?” asked McLeod.
McLeod noted that in conversations with Director of Parks, Recreation and Culture Dean Collver, that designated pickleball courts are slated to be built as part of the Wilson-Sheffield Park project, which is planned to be built in 2023.
The 1.25-hectare park beside Admiral Public School is currently in the preliminary planning phases and will include a small washroom/storage facility, a neighbourhood playground, sport courts for pickleball, basketball and tennis, and interpretation panels that identify the Wilson-Sheffield family’s contributions to the community.
“Early conversations indicate that we may be able to accommodate as many as 12 pickleball courts,” said Collver, who provided an update on Monday. “Design isn’t complete.”
“We had a few communities in need, mainly pickleball, basketball and tennis,” he said.
Collver said the design process is planned to be completed later this year, and invited the league and the public to participate in that process.
With files from Erika Engel.
