Pickleball Club advocates for more courts in Tillsonburg due to high demand

Carolijn Verbakel, left, vice president and Diane Peacock, president, warm up to play a match at the Tillsonburg Pickleball Courts. (Alex Hunt Photo).

Alex Hunt, Post Contributor

With more than 150 members and growing, the Tillsonburg Pickleball Club is calling on the town to help plan for more courts to meet surging demand.

Currently the town of Tillsonburg operates three pickleball courts next to the Tillsonburg Centre. The courts are heavily used by members of the community and the Tillsonburg Pickle Ball Club who requested to partner with the town to build more courts alongside the three existing ones.

“I think it would serve our community well to have more courts, it’s the fastest growing sport in North America, it became apparent pretty fairly quickly, three is great, we are very grateful, but we are full all the time, there are always people waiting,” said Diane Peacock, president of the Tillsonburg Pickleball Club.

Vice President of the Tillsonburg Pickleball Club, Carolijn Verbakel, said that pickleball is a very inclusive sport where people are always invited to join. She adds that the sport is very versatile as seniors and younger demographics are able to pick up the sport.

“We would love to work with the town to come up with a vision for our future not just for the club but for the community,” said Verbakel. “We want the courts all together, so we can have more structured tournaments that will bring economic support to the town.”

“The sport is big for all other regions so why wouldn't we want that for our own town as well; we don’t have a multipurpose gym in Tillsonburg so indoor pickleball is at minimal, it’s just not enough.”

The Tillsonburg’s Pickleball courts are open for public use and members often invite newcomers to join in on the matches. While they are grateful for the three courts at the community centre, Peacock said pickleball stands out as an interactive sport where players rotate partners, meet new people and gain social and health benefits. She added the activity also helps draw visitors into town.

Peacock adds that pickleball is becoming popular for younger generations because it’s an easy, simple game structure. She explains that pickleball is a layered sport and that anybody can play it. As people start playing the sport on a consistent basis, they find out there’s a lot of skill and strategy involved. Peacock says it will likely be the next Olympic sport, but it has to grow more in order to gain that attention.

Stonebridge Community Centre, support services manager Abby Malott didn’t think the sport would grow as much as it did back when the centre opened its pickleball services for seniors around 2012.

“There is a strong need for pickleball, registration filled up within one minute of its opening, there are still opportunities for people to drop in though,” said Malott. “Stonebridge exists to fill the need in the community to keep seniors healthy, fit, well and thriving. Pickleball meets that need to get seniors out and active, there’s a need to have as much Pickleball as possible.”

Stonebridge has been running pickleball at Annandale Public School and Glendale High School on Tuesday and Friday evenings. They also run it five days a week at the Port Rowan Community Centre as well. She adds that there are still opportunities for people to drop in as well.

“Pickleball gives seniors a reason to get out and it’s fun, there’s also a lot of social activity that goes along with it, those social connections happen,” said Malott. “The program is volunteer led and it provides an opportunity for individuals to give back and that’s what really helped us to grow. We are very grateful for our volunteers, and we are always looking for me.”

Anyone interested in volunteering at the Stonebridge Community Centre can call 519-842-3200 or email inquiry@stonebridgecs.com.