Growth of pickleball continues in Saskatchewan with thousands active in the sport

At this time of the year, there is a lot of excitement in the sports world.

From Rider’s training camp and NHL playoffs, there is plenty to keep every fan occupied.

But one sport that is gaining a lot of traction over the past few years is pickleball and it’s bringing everyone from all ages together.

More and more people have been playing the sport that essentially combines tennis, badminton, and table tennis all into one.

Theresa Kirkpatrick, president of Saskatoon Pickleball Inc., has seen the sport grow a lot in the past 15 years.

Interest in pickleball began in 2008 when a handful of people would play weekly at Father Basil Markle Park according to Kirkpatrick and it’s grown exponentially from there.

“The club that I belong to has over 800 members now. And there’s also other community groups and clubs that operate around the city, so I would wager to say there’s probably 1,500 or more playing in Saskatoon right now,” Kirkpatrick said.

Pickleball Saskatchewan told Kirkpatrick there are 2,700 people playing it across the province and she also mentioned a recent study was completed that showed there are more than a million people playing it nationally.

“It’s such an easy sport to pick up, you can start playing it right away and have a lot of fun and I think that’s the appeal. And then you can play as recreationally or as competitively as you like, so there’s a lot of growth in the sport that way,” she said.

Kirkpatrick shared that the national study also found there’s a lot of growth in women and youth (18-34) playing pickleball.

“Pickleball is for everyone, there are all levels of play and we’d love to see more and more people take up the sport,” Kirkpatrick said.

One of the big advantages she said that pickleball has over some other sports is that it’s very economical to play as paddles can go for an average of $60-80 — but they can also reach the $300 mark — and there are a number of courts popping up across Saskatoon.

The sport is taking the next step in the province as Warman will be hosting a provincial tournament next month with more than 300 players participating.

Regina will also play host to the national championships at the end of August, with registration now open for athletes.

“Those tournaments have people of all levels in them. So, you can see what the recreational game looks like and you can see what a very competitive, high-level game looks like which is amazing to see.”