Pickleball is taking Cochrane by storm.
Despite having a recreational league at Spray Lake Sawmills Sports Centre for roughly five years, it hasn’t been until recently that the sport has started to break into the mainstream, and more and more players, young and old, are flocking to try something new and exciting.
“We’re trying to get the sport growing more indoor and outdoor,” said Pickleball Canada ambassador and enthusiast Les Frank. “It is primarily an outdoor sport in the United States where it is growing exponentially.”
Combining elements from badminton, tennis and table tennis, Pickleball involves two to four players using wooden racquets to smack a ball over a net on courts similar to a double badminton court with 20x44 ft. dimensions.
Frank says there are 2.5 million people playing in the United States and the sport has been added to the elementary and high school curriculums, something he believes will happen here very soon.
Also, he hopes to change a widely viewed public stigma that the sport he loves is only for seniors.
“Just a couple years ago, pickleball was primarily for seniors,” he said. “They’d go down to the south states and play it in parks and at resorts, then they’d bring it back here. It’s a good sport for the older community because it doesn’t have as much impact as tennis and it’s easier to learn.”
“Now there’s people playing who range from being in their 30s to their 70s.”
Blank is currently one of the organizers for a loosely formed group called Cochrane Outdoor Pickleball Posse, which was originally formed at Spray Lake Sawmills Family Sports Centre and currently has 30 members.
With a constantly increasing base, the main obstacle the club has run into in recent months has been a lack of court space, which they are hoping to remedy with the Town of Cochrane’s support.
“We use the town’s tennis courts, and helped paint some of the lines for pickleball, but we’re trying to get two more courts put up,” Frank said. “You can fit six and possibly eight pickleball courts on the two tennis courts, which can accommodate 16 people at one time, but that’s still way too many people on two courts.
“We’re trying to get one court specifically for pickleball players.”
Once that happens, the town’s facilities will have caught up to its players, who have recently been tearing it up at competitions both provincially and nationally.
“A lot of players are now wanting to get better and enter tournaments,” Frank said. “In Kelowna at nationals some of our players won medals. The Cochrane people are well represented now.
“Just this last weekend we took home several more medals for players who are now only just starting to enter competitions.”
