General Discussion

I was asked to share the letter that I wrote to the Mayor and Council about expanding Pickleball opportunities. I hope all members of our CRPA will take the time to write to the city. This is an election year so it is a good time to put some pressure on the council to make an effort to help us. Here is my letter:

To the Mayor and Council of the City of Campbell River,

I am writing you to express my hope that our city council will put more effort into finding ways to expand the playing opportunities for the Pickleball community of Campbell River.

As you are no doubt aware, the popularity of Pickleball is exploding all across North America, and Campbell River is no exception. The need for court space in our city does not come close to meeting the demand of the ever increasing number of local Pickleball players. There is a steady stream of retirees moving to our city and many are Pickleball players. However, there is also growing interest from younger players and it is even being introduced to school groups.

The process of signing up for Pickleball sessions is very stressful because of the demand. To book a spot during the prime daytime sessions, a player has to be poised over their keyboard, counting down the seconds in order to attempt to hit the “Book Now” button at the precise necessary moment. Even after all that, the sessions are often full before your booking is successful. On the other hand, there are sports where no pre-booking is necessary and sessions do not fill up, so the gym space is squandered.

I have several points to make, and there are numerous ways that the city could improve the situation:

1. The most effective solution would be if we had a dedicated indoor Pickleball facility. That would obviously be very expensive, but you could count on the members of the Pickleball community to help with fundraising, grant applications etc. to make that a reality.

2. It is a mystery to the 300-400+ local Pickleball players as to why there was no provision made for Pickleball in the very extensive and expensive renovations at the Strathcona Gardens complex. We see that so much money is spent to support the sport of hockey. Obviously, it is expensive to maintain or improve ice sheets for hockey and skating, but other activities are important too, especially to older people trying to stay fit and healthy.

3. The outdoor courts at Robron are very much appreciated! But of course our weather does not alway allow outdoor play. One way to extend the use of those courts would be to provide a cover for some of them to keep them dry. The courts at Centennial park could also be resurfaced to provide extra outdoor playing space. And there is potential space for more outdoor courts at the park in Willow Point.

4. More importantly, some of the indoor court time could be redistributed to make better use of the facilities. Daytime sessions are the most in demand for the large number of retirees that want to play sports.  I have nothing against Badminton - it is a great sport too. However, I have been carefully keeping track of attendance at the 3 prime daytime slots that are allotted to Badminton. On both Monday and Wednesday afternoons, there are 3 hour Badminton sessions at the Sportsplex (6 courts) and on Friday afternoon there is a 2 1/2 hour session at the Community Centre (4 courts).  There is almost never a player signed up in advance for any of these sessions. The players just arrive and sign in at the time of their session, because there is no need to sign up ahead of time. There are always many available spots that are not filled, sometimes 20 spots! I was so shocked to discover this that I went in person to observe the attendance at a session at the Sportsplex and sure enough, there were 2 of the 6 courts not even being used, and no one sitting on the bench waiting for a turn to play. At any daytime Pickleball  session, every court is full and there are numerous people sitting on the benches awaiting their turn. And the longest Pickleball timeslot is 2 hours, some are less than 2 hours. A three hour timeslot at the Sportsplex could be divided into two 1 1/2 hour Pickleball sessions - that would  provide 12 courts between the two sessions. Or the gym could have the wall up and have Badminton on one side and Pickleball on the other (not ideal but better than leaving 2 completely empty courts).

5. The city has repeatedly offered introductory Pickleball lessons, which is adding dozens of players seeking playing opportunities. But no additional sessions are added to the schedule, so the demand just keeps getting worse and more frustrating. If there is not going to be more time provided in the city’s recreation schedule, it does not make sense to keep offering lessons that just increase the number of frustrated players.

Thank you for your attention to this matter that is very important to a large number of citizens/voters in the community of Campbell River.

Elaine Thompson