Growing demand prompts calls for dedicated Thunder Bay pickleball facility

A Thunder Bay group is proposing the construction of a dedicated pickleball facility in the northwestern Ontario city, to help meet demand for the rapidly growing sport.

In a deputation to council on Monday, the Thunder Bay Pickleball Club outlined its plans to build a new pickleball facility at the Northwood Playfield.

No decisions have been made and council voted to send the matter to administration, which is preparing a report.

"It is a very accessible sport," club vice-president Kasper Wabinski said Wednesday. "It doesn't require as much running as tennis, but a little bit more physical than ping pong.

"There's a bigger, larger group that's playing compared to some of the other racket sports, so I always can find somebody to play with," he said. "It's not like I have to go through a big effort to organize a group of people."

And the sport — a combination of tennis, badminton and ping-pong — is growing quickly in Thunder Bay. The letter requesting Monday's deputation states that between 2021 and 2022, the club's membership grew from about 50 people to more than 200; the club estimates there are hundreds more pickleball players in the city who aren't members, as well.

However, Wabinski said there isn't enough space to meet demand in Thunder Bay. The club currently plays at École Secondaire Catholique De La Verendrye, the Moose Hall, the Boys & Girls Club of Thunder Bay, and new outdoor courts at Boulevard Lake.

"One of the misconceptions is that people think you can play pickleball anywhere," said Coun. Andrew Foulds, who tabled the motion calling for the report on Monday. "We've been sticking pickleball lines on tennis courts for example.

"Well, the net isn't the right height and the size of the court isn't quite correct," he said. "A pickleball, you know, it has a certain behaviour on a certain surface.

"If you have a very rough or ill-maintained surface, you can't play pickleball there because you can't really have a true game."

In addition, Wabinski said, the current courts don't have secure storage for the club's equipment.

The club's proposal, if it goes ahead, would see the facility built in phases, starting with eight outdoor courts. Later phases would see a clubhouse built, more courts added and finally a roof put over the entire thing so the courts could be used year round.

Costs for the entire project aren't yet available, but Wabinski said the group has a quote of $450,000 for Phase 1.

Building it, Wabinski said, would allow the club to host out of town tournaments, and since the club is a non-profit, it can help with funding through grant applications, sponsorships, and other fundraising efforts.

"We would be hoping that we could have something built next year, because this is not a complicated project," he said. "Taking two years to develop something like this, it's a little bit long, but I wouldn't be surprised if we didn't see something till 2025 personally."

The report is due back to council before the end of the year.

Current River Coun. Andrew Foulds said the club has already been working with city administration on the proposal; it was the city that recommended the Northwood Playfield on James Street.

Many details still remain to be worked out, however, Foulds said, including whether there's a better location for a pickleball facility.

"One of the premises of our recreational master plan is that we concentrate different activities in locations and create hubs," he said. "How do different activities complement each other? How do we maximize the public space that we have now, how do we deliver recreation efficiently?

"I don't want to be building new parking lots everywhere, for example. If there are synergies that can be built in locations, I think we need to look at that. This is the location that has been proposed and we have to do our work to see if it fits."

Another possibility, he said, is including pickleball courts in a proposed indoor turf sports facility currently being considered for a space behind the Canada Games Complex.

"I'm open to any ideas," Foulds said. "I'm into being responsible. I'm also into a vision that sort of meets the needs of the City of Thunder Bay, and the local pickleball organization.

"They also articulated some flexibility."

In any case, Foulds said he believes there is a need for a dedicated pickleball facility in Thunder Bay.

"I think recreation is evolving," he said. "There's always going to be demand for baseball, but we have a growing international community that wants to play cricket, so I think we have to evolve with the times and provide recreation facilities that speak to our citizens.

"And in my view, one of those pieces of evolution that's happening in recreation is this desire to do pickleball. What does that look like in our community?

"I think our government needs to reflect the desires and activities that our citizens participate in," Foulds said. "So I do think it's justified, because I think it's part of the evolution of recreation and activity that our citizens are participating in."