New Charlottetown Pickleball Club 'scrambling' for space as interest explodes

Organizers of the new Charlottetown Pickleball Club have a problem. Interest in their sport has exploded in the capital city, with 186 players and counting, but now they need to find space for all those new players to play. 

This summer, the club operated a program at the University of Prince Edward Island, filling more than 800 two-hour time slots through July and August. 

Acting president Lisa Murphy said they are grateful for the space at the UPEI Sports Centre, but they need more. 

"The biggest challenge has to be the venues. We need to have spots for people to play during bad weather times, but also in the winter. People want to be active all winter long."

Murphy said her group has met with the Charlottetown mayor, and the parks and recreation committee.

The club's venue search committee is also reaching out to schools and other places with gyms, looking for spaces with a good floor and a high ceiling. 

"We're just scrambling, and looking for places," Murphy said.

"We hope to find places soon because we have to match the supply with the demand… We don't want to get a whole lot of people signed up ready to go, and we don't have the venues for them." 

Murphy points to the City of Summerside, which has built a six-court outdoor pickleball venue next to the Wilmot Community Centre. 

"We look to that venue and we say, 'We want that too,' but we also want indoor facilities."

Huge potential

Parker Fisher, 20, is acting vice-president for the new Charlottetown club, and an avid pickleball player who has been playing almost every day since January.

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Fisher said there are some locations in the capital city that would be ideal for pickleball.

"For an outdoor venue, Victoria Park, it has eight tennis courts. You can put four pickleball courts on one tennis court. So that would be great for the summer time," he said.

"The ideal location for indoor play all year round would be a new venue for us. But that's a long-term goal obviously. Right now, we're looking for anything we can."

Pickleball P.E.I. has 465 Islanders registered, playing in school and church gyms, legions and community halls, as well as on outdoor tennis courts. 

"Pickleball has huge potential. It's been the number one growing sport in North America for the last three years," Fisher said.

"We're getting crazy numbers here on P.E.I. It's just gonna keep growing."

'It's just booming'

Alfie Wakelin, 78, is also part of the new Charlottetown Pickleball Club.

"This woman that I bowled with, about eight years ago she wanted me to play pickleball, but the name sort of turned me off," he said.

"She kept on persisting, and then two years ago I took up pickleball, and I love it."

"It's just booming. It's going to just escalate. I hate to say it, but it may hurt tennis a bit. It's just taken off, and it's like an addictive sport," Wakelin said.

"The more you play, the more you want to play."

Tracey MacLeod started playing pickleball in July. 

"We came to our cottage for the summer, and my wife plays, and she said, 'Let's go play pickleball and meet some people,'" MacLeod said.

"It's a really easy sport to pick up, and the people are lovely. It's just a really fun sport."