The sport of pickleball has become more popular over the past few years, sometimes making court space hard to find in Waterloo Region and beyond.
Greystone Racquet Club, a private membership club, made the decision to open six indoor courts three years ago.
“I think the first day we were open, they were packed. It wasn’t slow at all and it hasn’t slowed down,” Geoff Lucas, the Greystone owner and general manager, said.
Lucas said recently, pickleball memberships have become the most popular at the club – even over tennis.
“[Pickleball] is definitely the most social out of the sports. I think the success of it has been because of how easy it is to pick up,” Lucas said.
Eventually, the club added six outdoor courts as well. Lucas said he still hears about the need for more dedicated courts around the region.
Right now, there are many courts lined for multiple sports, which Lucas said can be distracting.
“As soon as there’s six courts added somewhere, they’re full on day one. It’s clearly growing just as quickly now as it was a number of years ago,” he said. “There’s a lot of taped lines on tennis courts and things like that, but there should be more dedicated courts.”
Slowly, there are more going up. Four Fathers Brewing Co. in Cambridge is in the process of adding six indoor courts within its facilities.
“We have the courts set. We have the ground laid. We just have some finishing touches to get people in here and playing,” Curtis Jeffrey, the head brewer at Four Fathers Brewing, said.
They’re hoping the courts will be open by the end of fall.
“The goal is to have a membership, a club,” Jeffrey said. “The moment we get in and start brewing we want to hear the hits of the paddle against the ball, and we want to hear it at all hours.”
Ever since word spread about the brewery courts, Jeffrey said there has been growing interest as more people are looking to play.
“It seems like everybody is very excited and interested in more courts,” he explained. “Rec centres have them, but it sounds like they’re full a lot of the time. Having a place in a town like this, Cambridge, sounds like a lot of people have interest.”
Growing pains expand beyond the region as well. Guelph has made progress with multi-purpose courts, but some in the sport say more are needed.
“The demand is far, far ahead of the availability for sure at this point,” Mike McAninch, the acting commissioner and co-founder of the Canadian National Pickleball League (CNPL), said.
He expects to see that change in the near future.
“Dedicated facilities Is kind of the answer, and I can see a lot of construction happening in that space in the next couple of years,” he said.
The city is planning to welcome 32 top tier players from across the country this coming weekend for a CNPL tournament – an event that could help grow the sport even more.
“They’re definitely professional level players, so this will probably be the best group of players that have gotten together to play in Canada at this level,” McAninch said.
