Paddles can hit and wiffle balls can now whistle without worry as a new pickleball facility has opened in Nanaimo.
City of Nanaimo officials cut the ribbon on eight pickleball courts at Beban Park on Thursday, Oct. 31 and a legion of players, including members of Nanaimo Pickleball Club, were on hand to play and demonstrate the sport, considered one of the fastest growing in North America.
Harvey Hall, Nanaimo Pickleball Club vice-president, likened the sport to a combination of tennis, badminton and table tennis. People can play as singles or as doubles.
"It's played on a court that's the same size as a badminton court," Hall told the News Bulletin. "What makes it different is it's played with a wiffle ball, which is a plastic ball, and first part of the game is you must let the ball bounce once after the serve, once after the serve return, and then it's played like a game of tennis where you can hit the ball out of the air or let it bounce once only."
Hall said points can only be scored if a player is serving and games end when a team hits 11 points.
"There are variations of that depending on time, but that's kind of the general area, the other rule that makes it a little bit different is you can't step into the green area in front of the net to play a ball out of the air," he said. "You can go into it to get the ball, but you must let the ball bounce, and then you can go in and get it."
Fittingly, Richard Harding from @cityofnanaimo dressed in pickle costume for #pickleball court grand opening on #halloween2024. pic.twitter.com/vNX9r2QuMb
— Karl Yu (@KarlYuBulletin) October 31, 2024
According to the city, the new courts were moved from Beaufort Park and have been treated to limit slipping and bleacher seating is expected to be installed in short order. Pete Entwistle, city parks project coordinator, said the court surfacing is one used at facilities across the city.
"It mitigates [slipping]," said Entwistle. "You get enough rain, it's going to be slippery, but it does have sand mixed in with the surfacing."
Kathy Smith, club member, was happy to be moving over from Beaufort Park.
"Oh, it's so much nicer to have eight courts with fencing between them all, it's easier to be safe, and it just makes it so that people know where they're playing and aren't bumping into each other," she said.
The game's simplicity is why Hall thinks it is so popular.
"The game is a very short game … easy to learn," he said. "It also is on a smaller court, which allows people with less mobility to play. It's played in all areas of the world right now, so you can go anywhere in the world and pick up a game of pickleball with very little equipment, one paddle and some runners, and you're ready to go."
Richard Harding, parks, recreation and culture general manager, said the city will continue to work with the club on lighting.
To learn more about pickleball, go to the club's website at www.nanaimopickleball.org/.
