Complaints from Windsor's tennis community as more courts are converted for pickleball
LaSalle has doubled its number of pickleball courts
Robert Rotaru says he's hearing complaints from the tennis community when it comes to the number of courts being converted for pickleball.
The tennis and pickleball coach and player hits out of the Parkside Tennis Club in Windsor, Ont.
"Being a tennis coach, I hear all the tennis players that are complaining about the pickleball players taking over — lines being put up on tennis courts," said Rotaru. "But I think the city has done a good job at making everybody happy. They still keep enough tennis courts around in Windsor, I think."
Rotaru says he believes there are still enough tennis court options available in the city and that people might be more upset their their favourite one has been converted.
"Just being less ... courts ... probably gets them a little bit rattled. And the noise, the noise factor of pickleball, probably, is a factor. When a pickleball gets hit, it's a lot louder than a tennis ball."
Tennis courts can easily be converted to fit several pickleball courts as they require much less surface area.
Rotaru calls the demand of tennis "steady" in the Windsor-area, whereas pickleball continues to pick up steam — but remains still well behind the U.S., he says.
"I started playing pickleball because one of my [tennis] students invited me to a social pickleball place. And it was very inclusive. And then I really enjoyed it. I think people coming from a racket sport background will really enjoy the sport."
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Rotaru believes the sport's growth is due in large part to its accessibility to everyone.
"Anybody can pick up the paddle. It's lighter than the tennis ball. The learning curve is fast so a child can just pick up a paddle and start hitting. My kids picked it up really quickly. So I think that's what makes it so fun."
He says, he's unsure why the two worlds surrounding both racquet sports have yet to merge more closely together?
"I think it's the stigma behind the pickleball. I think people see it as some dinky sport for old people. Which is very wrong. It's not just for old people."
LaSalle doubles its pickleball courts
The Town of LaSalle is in the process of finalizing newly converted tennis to pickleball courts at the corner of Front Road and Laurier Drive.
Scott Bisson, the municipality's manager of culture and recreation, says the idea came about after a nudge from the local pickleball association in the town.
"Came forward to the town looking for assistance in trying to identify some new courts just because the demand is so high," he said.
"The municipality is trying to weigh everything, and I think we were trying to find the best compromise. Going into the conversion, I believe [we had] ten tennis courts and five pickleball courts. So after this conversion, we now have 11 pickleball and eight tennis. It's a little bit more balanced."
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The move at Front and Laurier is only temporary, however, as the municipality plans to remove them within the next five years to allow for future development projects.
"Building new pickleball courts would be costly. This was a very minimal cost in comparison to the construction of the new facilities."
Bisson says more permanent infrastructure for racquet courts will be built into their long term master plan for parks and recreation.
"We want to have things that we can do in the very short term and things that we're planning in the medium and long term — and then have the ability to revisit those plans every few years to say if we're on the right track."
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As for the town's main recreation area — the Vollmer complex — he says there are plans to have some there in the future, too.
"We do want to bring the possibility of pickleball courts to our next budget session for 2025. We built four brand new tennis courts at the Vollmer. And the goal in the future is to add more racket sports at the Vollmer outdoors."
"All of the municipalities I think are are trying to catch up and build facilities to meet that demand and give the residents what they want."
With files from Zena Salem