The Prince Albert Pickleball Club meets Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays at the Alfred Jenkins Field House. (Rob Mahon/paNOW Staff)

By Rob Mahon

Prince Albert Pickleball

Fast-growing sport outgrowing space in Prince Albert

Oct 4, 2022 | 12:00 PM

On some weekday afternoons, you can hear the distinctive sounds of one of the world’s fastest-growing sports at the Alfred Jenkins Field House. The gymnasium is often packed wall-to-wall with people playing pickleball with the Prince Albert Pickleball Club.

Almost a hybrid of ping-pong and tennis, pickleball uses a smaller, solid paddle rather than one with strings. It can be played on a tennis court, but within smaller dimensions.

According to the New York Times, the sport grew 40 per cent from 2019 to 2021 in the United States. As the sport grows in popularity worldwide, it’s been doing the same in Prince Albert.

“We have a large group of intermediate players,” club president Roy Fremont said. “Most of our membership is comprised of seniors, because that’s the group that can access the facilities at those times. Among those members, we have a good core group of players that just like to come out and play.”

Since the club began, which according to Fremont, was about two or three years ago, they’ve become affiliated with both Saskatchewan Pickleball and Canadian Pickleball, so they’re an officially recognized club. They have around 50 active members at the moment, playing Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays at 1 p.m. in the afternoon.

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“It’s a very inclusive group and it’s very easy to learn how to play,” Fremont said. “Once they do learn, they for the most part stick with it. It’s a nice game to play and it’s also very social. We find a lot of people come out and do a fair amount of visiting while they’re playing.”

Younger players are starting to show an interest in the game as well, and the trick now becomes expanding gym hours for newcomers to join the group.

“We would like to expand our hours of play into the evening so we can get people who are not retired coming out in the evening and playing,” Fremont said. “Also, we would like to do something on the weekend, but we’re extremely limited in terms of where we can play at this point in time.”

The club has been able to set up places to play at Carlton Park Community Club’s outdoor rink, and even at local tennis courts, but those options will be gone once the winter sets in. That’s one of the bigger concerns for the club right now — that they’ll outgrow their current space if that growth keeps up.

“The sport has been growing worldwide,” Fremont said. “In Saskatchewan, our membership with the Saskatchewan Pickleball Association has grown from about 1200 to 2200. So we have seen some growth in the province.”

Fremont added the current time slot makes it tough for younger people to join them as they’re often working at those times, but he added interest from that demographic is growing. He also said the sport is popular with seniors because it’s a low-impact sport with the option to play at a higher pace.

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rob.mahon@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @RobMahonPxP