A “passionate group” of pickleball players wants Moose Jaw to have dedicated courts with wide-open playing times and has been prodding city councillors and city hall to install permanent courts.
Several people have approached Coun. Doug Blanc about the lack of permanent courts, a fact he raised during the June 14 regular meeting. The residents pointed out that Golden Ticket Sports Inc. — which now operates the Hillcrest Sports Centre — will offer pickleball times only two hours twice a week. This is the same amount of time that the Cosmo Seniors Centre is offering.
The residents who approached Blanc about this issue have also said 40 to 50 players travel to Regina regularly to play pickleball.
Blanc wondered when Moose Jaw would have dedicated pickleball courts.
City hall has also received calls from residents about pickleball and courts, said Derek Blais, director of parks and recreation.
“It’s a real passionate group that want to see it happen here and be more available in the community,” he continued. “Right now in our five-year capital plan, so 2025 is when we identified outdoor courts.
“But we are looking at opportunities to bump that up and work with groups on fundraising campaigns to get some outdoor courts built. I think that is the ideal solution. Something that’s drop-in, something that’s available any time, would help. Similar to tennis courts and our basketball courts.”
The Hillcrest Sports Centre will have interim pickleball courts, while the Iron Bridge subdivision will soon have such venues, Blais said. There will also be opportunities this summer to offer pickleball at the Kinsmen Sportsplex.
After the meeting, Mayor Fraser Tolmie indicated that city hall has known about the growth of pickleball over the years based on conversations with the two seniors’ organizations. These talks provide the opportunity to develop partnerships with those players, similar to the recent partnership with the tennis club to help renew its courts.
“They’re a very well-organized group and I believe the pickleball organization can do the same thing,” he said. “I believe they are very well organized, and I think if they banded together and came to council with a solution, we would love to partner with them and speed up the timelines.”
In a separate interview, city manager Jim Puffalt pointed to the available opportunities for pickleball in the community via the seniors’ organizations and the Iron Bridge subdivision.
He compared the sport to cricket, saying it is new and forcing city hall to “stay with the times.” He was confident more courts would be constructed this year while the municipality would build more venues in the future.
Even though there are dedicated pickleball courts in Regina and Saskatoon, there are still opportunities to play the sport in Moose Jaw, Puffalt continued. The parks and recreation department is working with the pickleball group and is attempting to better understand the players’ needs and game requirements.
“If we’re behind, we’ll catch up,” he added.
