‘It’s addictive’; Pickleball popularity swells in the Tournament Capital

KAMLOOPS — Touted as one of the fastest growing sports in the country, pickleball is a relatively new sport — first created in the 1960s — but it’s not a fad. The local club in Kamloops now has around 600 members, using any court space in the city they can get their hands on.

CFJC crews paid a visit to the courts at Riverside Park on Wednesday (Apr. 10) to hear more from the people who have become so passionate about the sport.

KJ Klontz is one of the founding members of the Kamloops Pickleball Club and says she got into the game shortly after retirement.

“As soon as I hit that ball, it’s like everything in the world stopped except that ball,” Klontz told CFJC Today. “I had so much fun.”

The local club was founded in 2007 and since then, its members have become a daily sight in McDonald Park and Riverside Park.

Club president Gerrianne Clare says now, a variety of ages come out to play.

“It started off mainly as a seniors thing because there were lots of older people who wanted to do it. And that’s what you heard, is that it was a seniors game,” says Clare. “Now we’re getting a lot more 20-to-40-year-olds and 40-to-60-year-olds. Our youngest member is 16 and our oldest member is 84.”

There’s the recreation side of it, but the club also has professional players competing at national and international levels. One of those players, Brett Forsythe, says the social culture around the sport makes it unique.

“You just don’t get that with other sports. And I’ve met so many amazing people along the way.”

To say Forsythe is invested in the sport would be an understatement. The pro player competes regularly —recently winning two silver medals at the 2023 provincials — runs Poach Pickleball, his own equipment company, and is also a co-owner of the Vancouver Rush, a B.C. team representing the Canadian National Pickleball League.

Forsythe got his pickleball start in the local region in 2016, and has been glad to see the growth of the Kamloops club.

“I think it’s great to just see so many people out playing all day, every day.”

COURT SPACE CONUNDRUM

Having grown to more than 600 members, the Kamloops Pickleball Club says court space has become a hot commodity.

“We need a lot more spots to play,” stresses Clare. “Right now, we’ve got ten dedicated courts [at Riverside Park] that we permit through the city.”

It’s not just Kamloops that is finding court space to be tight. Brandon Mackie is the co-founder of Pickleheads, a website that shows people where to find pickleball courts and games in their local area. And in B.C., Mackie says web searches for courts have more than doubled year-over-year.

Across Canada, Mackie says there’s more and more recreational renovations happening to bring in playing space for pickleball groups.

“We’re seeing a lot more of the complete conversions of tennis courts for pickleball or just construction of entirely dedicated pickleball facilities, which as a player I can say is definitely the best kind of experience,” he explains. “I think everyone agrees there’s a long way to go. There are a lot more courts needed but it’s definitely heading in the right direction from what we can tell.”

The Kamloops club wants to eventually have its own facility to play in, with Clare acknowledging that it is a large undertaking to secure the financial means to do so, along with getting property to build on.

In the meantime though, Klontz says the organization is working to create opportunities within the school system for youth to try out the game.

“What we’re doing also is we’re going into the schools (for clinics) and getting a broad foundation of school aged kids for our club to grow on,” explains Klontz.

For anybody considering picking up a paddle, players and coaches say they’re more than happy to oblige.

“You don’t have to know anyone to be able to come down, there’s always people with extra paddles down here,” notes Forsythe.

“Give it a try. Because it’s quite addictive,” laughs Clare. “Once you get going, it’s pretty addictive. It’s fun.”