Fast-growing pickleball clubs short on space pitch new facilities in the Edmonton region

As pickleball's popularity soars in Alberta, some clubs in the Edmonton region say they desperately need more outdoor courts but can't afford to build them on their own.

Pickleball is a rapidly growing racket sport similar to tennis but played on smaller courts. 

In 2016, according to statistics from Pickleball Alberta, there was one club in the province and 138 members. Now there are dozens of clubs and more than 10,000 members. 

Pickleball players say the sport could be growing even faster but a court shortage keeps more people from playing, especially in the warmer months.

Barbara Mullen, president of the Strathcona County Pickleball Association (SCPA), presented a pitch for a new 20-court facility in Sherwood Park to a Strathcona County committee on Tuesday. 

The club says demand from its members, schools and residents far exceeds availability at the Sherwood Heights Pickleball Courts, which has eight outdoor courts built in 2017. There are 15 other public courts in the region, but most lack washrooms and no location has enough courts to host tournaments.

Mullen told CBC News in an interview before the meeting that her club's programs often fill up online each night within two minutes. And last year, the SCPA capped membership at 567 because of limited court availability.

"With growing 30 per cent each year, we could very much go as high as 900, 1,000 members if we had the courts to accommodate them," Mullen said.

Mullen said with the county's support and provincial grants, the club would contribute $150,000 toward a new $2.5-million facility, where 30 per cent of courts would be public.

Cate Helgeson, a director and lead captain with the SCPA who started playing pickleball in 2022, said the current court situation fractures the club, since members cannot gather in one place.

"If you go up a level, you leave those people behind, especially if you were joining them at a private court," she said.

The club presented a business case to the county last year and Strathcona County Mayor Rod Frank said during Tuesday's meeting that council could decide on whether to support the project by November or December of this year.

The SCPA isn't the only club searching for solutions to the court shortage.

Eileen McClean, president of the St. Albert Pickleball Club, presented to St. Albert's city council in October about her club's need for more outdoor courts.

With 1,150 members registered last year, the St. Albert club is the second-largest in the province, after the Calgary Pickleball Club.

"If 20 courts were miraculously opened, we could fill them, no problem," McClean said. 

McClean said Saturdays at the Alpine Pickleball Courts are especially busy, with people waiting for courts to free up. 

"It gets quite testy at times," she said. 

She said the club is always looking for land and inquires as soon as plots become available for sale, but what little is available in St. Albert is too expensive for the non-profit society. 

West of Edmonton, the Parkland Pickleheads are building 24 outdoor courts in an industrial area in Stony Plain. 

Garand Jones, the club's vice president, said the club found a developer interested in pickleball who was willing to lease land for the courts. The developer plans to build a 14-court indoor pickleball facility right beside them, plus another four courts outside, bringing the total number of courts on the land to 42.

Jones said the club explored many different options over the years, looking at municipal and private land.

"The problem that we ran into was that any of the municipal land that was available, and there wasn't a lot of it available, was not ideal or not located in a good location," he said. 

The club raised $400,000 for the project and obtained support from the City of Spruce Grove and the provincial government.

Construction began in the fall and work is expected to be wrapped up by September, Jones said.

Pickleball courts are also in strong demand in Edmonton. According to a recent city council memo, all of the hours available for playing pickleball at city facilities each week are fully used on a regular basis. 

The memo said city is committed to considering the sport in future district park plans to accommodate growing interest.

Pickleball proponents know their groups are not alone in seeking space for their sport — ice sheets are also in short supply — but they say pickleball is worth investing in because it's affordable and accessible to people of all ages. 

"Pickleball is very supportive and very welcoming, and I think that is a great thing to have in our community," Mullen said.