While it isn’t a new sport, having been first invented in 1965 in the United States, pickleball has been steadily growing in Chestermere.
“It’s a very easy sport to pick up,” said Pickleball Coordinator Holly Wood.
Originally the sport was offered twice a week and has now grown to include daytime sessions on Tuesdays and Thursdays and evening sessions on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday evenings at the Recreation Centre.
Pickleball in Chestermere started out in 2013 at Prairie Waters school before moving to the recreation centre.
When they first started at the recreation centre there weren’t lines for the courts in the main hall.
“We actually used to use masking tape to mask out every one of the courts,” said Wood.
It usually took players half an hour to delineate the courts and an hour to peel up the tape.
“We would go through three or four rolls of masking tape every time we put the tape down,” she said, “it was a lot of work.”
The club finally got painted lines in the Recreation Centre Main Hall last year.
“[It] has made a huge difference,” said Wood.
Wood describes pickle ball as a combination of badminton, tennis and ping pong.
“It has a net like tennis does, you play it on a badminton sized court and you use a paddle like you do for ping pong,” she said.
Pickleball is played with a whiffle ball similar in size to a tennis ball. The holes in the ball keep it from being hit too fast.
Some nuances of the rules of play can vary between clubs governing organizations however the major rules stay consistent.
Play is started with an underhanded serve diagonally across the court to the opposing player.
On the serve, the ball must bounce once on both sides of the net before it can be played. After that the ball can be played either after a single bounce or in the air.
Another rule that makes the game unique is a zone that stretches three feet from the net on each side, known as the kitchen, that players must stay out of during play.
This prevents players from smashing the ball as well as helps create longer rallies during the game.
“That…is kind of there to protect the players,” said Wood.
The game is played to 11 points but the winning team must win by two points which can lead to game with much higher scores than 11.
Points are only scored by the team who has the serve.
Anyone familiar with racket sports will catch onto the game quickly said Wood.
“It is addictive,” she said, “our players keep coming back because they enjoy it so much.”
Because of how easy it is to learn to play pickleball, Wood said it is great for families and seniors.
“It’s good for all age levels,” she said.
The speed and difficulty of the game comes down to the players.
“At the advanced level you’re going to be playing at that kitchen court line,” she said.
Beginners tend to player further back from the net giving them more time to react to the ball.
Wood was first introduced to the sport at the Alberta 55+ summer games where pickleball was a demonstration sport.
“I think what appealed to me…was you could play it at your own speed and with your own skill level,” she said.
She tried the game a few times and was hooked.
“It was just a lot of fun,” said Wood.
Depending on who you play with, pickleball can be social game for fun or competitive.
She credits the growth of the sport to the inclusive nature of the game.
Wood hopes to see the sport continue to grow and would particularly like to see more children playing.
“It’s a great recreation program to be involved in,” she said.
The program is run on a drop-in basis at the recreation centre costing $50 for members and $75 for non-members for 10 sessions.
