'We're catching up as quick as we can': Pickleball in Manitoba continuing to grow in popularity

Easy to learn, competitive play and positive social interactions; these factors are leading more Manitobans to pick up a paddle and try out the sport of pickleball.

"We started with 35 people in the club in 2019. As of today, I think we have 276, about 100 joined this year," said Kevin Harrison, the president of the Winnipeg West Pickleball Club.

The Winnipeg West Pickleball Club is the city's only club so far and one of a handful in the province.

Harrison said even though they are the only club in Winnipeg right now, he knows more people are enjoying the sport.

Pickleball is similar to tennis, but uses smaller courts, large paddles instead of racquets, and a lighter "wiffle ball" with holes in it.

Harrison estimates that 2,000 to 3,000 people enjoy the game in the province.

He said pickleball between is already quite prominent in the 55-plus crowd, but younger people are now starting to enjoy it too.

"In our club, for example, now we have 30-year-old members, 30, 40, 50 (year olds), looking for more evening time for them to play because they are still working."

He added even kids are getting interested in the sport.

"I was out with my grandkids, the eight to 10-year-olds are starting to get into it."

Pickleball Manitoba says there are around 1,000 members in Manitoba, which is up from the 400 memberships last year.

Ted Fardoe, the vice president of Pickleball Manitoba, said with the increased popularity among all age groups, they are working to provide more programming.

"We're hoping to begin developing youth programs within the province," said Fardoe. "We're hoping to partner with some of the groups that have youth camps, youth sporting camps, that kind of thing, to introduce pickleball at the younger ages."

Prairie Pickleball, a local Winnipeg company that provides pickleball equipment, has noticed firsthand how popular the game has become, noting before COVID, it was growing quite rapidly.

"From a business perspective, we were seeing continual, as far as sales go, activity, you know, every month was growing exponentially," said Don Kropla, who runs sales for Prairie Pickleball.

Kropla said he and his wife were first introduced to the game in the United States and eventually started offering clinics for beginners in Winnipeg, saying there was quite the need for it.

"After a while, people were like, 'Well, where do we get equipment from?' because none of the major retailers were carrying equipment."

This led to the pair starting Prairie Pickleball and now they sell equipment out of their home in the St. James area and they also attend tournaments throughout the province.

'WE NEED LOTS MORE'

With the sport growing in popularity, Fardoe, Harrison and Kropla all said more space needs to be available to meet the demand of people wanting to play.

"There are facilities being developed or repurposed from tennis to tennis and pickleball. We need lots more; there are lots of people playing, the courts are busy every day and we're growing. We're a little bit behind some of the other provinces, but we're catching up as quick as we can," said Fardoe.

The City of Winnipeg understands the game is growing and has already started upgrades or building new courts like four courts at Jill Officer Park and eight at St. James Park.

"Moving forward, we expect more pickleball courts will be installed across the city to meet the increased demand as more existing courts are refurbished and new amenities are installed," a spokesperson for the city said.

Harrison feels the game is growing so rapidly that eventually, Winnipeg will need a pickleball complex in every quadrant of the city.

Kropla adds he hopes the trend of opening new facilities continues, noting other prairie cities in Canada are steps ahead in offering pickleball programs and having the proper space for it.

At the end of the day, Harrison says this sport is extremely important to the community and its importance will continue to grow with its popularity.

"It keeps, well especially the older people, it keeps us active…it's also important as a good transition for older tennis players, even younger tennis players coming into the sport."

All three men hope the game of pickleball continues to enthrall Manitobans and more people become interested in taking up the sport.