Pickleball committee members Judy Bohn, Dennis LeFleur and Chuck Nichols appeared in County of Barrhead council chambers Sept. 5 with a request for $400 to purchase additional nets, but councillors voted to table the matter until after the arbitration decision from Municipal Affairs.
“I was introduced to the sport this past winter while on holidays in California and when I came back to Barrhead, I thought it would be fun to play it here and Shallon Touet has been very supportive,” Bohn said, noting the Town of Barrhead financed the purchase of the first two nets being used, as well as paint for the lines on the outdoor skating rink surface.
Bohn said the group now has 20 paid members and 45 people on its mailing list who have expressed an interest.
“We’ve had startup costs that were unforeseen. While we could have played without it, the lines we paid to have painted on the Barrhead Elementary School (BES) gymnasium floor cost us $900. We want to host tournaments on an official court at some point and that’s why we committed to the cost before we’d even collected a cent,” she said, adding other issues have included stolen equipment.
Bohn said the committee has already booked the elementary school gym Monday and Wednesday nights at a cost of $800 for 10 months of play.
“We know we have to charge fees but we’re trying to keep them low enough to be attractive. Right now it’s $100 for a year and we’ve had 20 people pay that upfront already. We had some other expenses as well and the grant money would have helped with that,” she said.
However Nichols noted BES plays the sport but will not include it in the curriculum.
“It doesn’t involve enough students at any given time like soccer or basketball does and that’s why they [Barrhead Elementary School] said we would have to pay for the lines,” Nichols said, adding Barrhead is not the first community getting involved with the sport.
“Camrose and Westlock have their own facilities dedicated to it,” he said.
On a question from County of Barrhead Coun. Darrell Troock about whether or not the curling rink facility in town could be used for pickleball, Nichols said unfortunately not.
“One of the things I haven’t looked into is the height of the building but it might be too low for the game to be played in. I understand, as well, that during the summer there are programs that utilize the space,” Nichols said.
Bohn agreed.
“We have looked around to try to find a building but thus far, the outdoor rink is the best we could do. We’re happy with the number of people who have expressed interest in so short an amount of time. We believe this sport will be bigger than anything else in the community sooner rather than later,” Bohn said.
LeFleur agreed.
“I’ve played this sport for four years now and I can tell you, from personal experience, that the national pickleball championship in Phoenix, AZ., draws roughly 1,000 competitors ranging in age from eight to 84. The game’s been around for 50-odd years and it’s a very low-impact sport that doesn’t require an excessive amount of energy,” LeFleur said, noting anybody can learn to play it in about 20 minutes.
Deputy Reeve Bill Lee commended the group on their organization and effort.
“I’ve heard about pickleball before and I believe it is a sport I could actually play,” Lee said.
“I’m always pleased when the community comes together to do things like this but it is unfortunate that we [County of Barrhead] are the third poorest rural municipality in Alberta, primarily because we don’t have an industrial tax base. I don’t believe tax dollars should be used in this manner.”
That being said, Lee was quick to offer his own $100 contribution.
“I think private money should finance this,” he added.
