Vancouver plans to get 36 pop-up pickleball courts

A number of tennis courts in Vancouver are being considered as locations for temporary pickleball courts.

After months of planning, the Vancouver Park Board and the Vancouver Pickleball Association will turn several tennis courts into pop-up pickleball courts, although they did not specify a timeline.

The park board says more details on their locations and timelineswill be provided once details are finalized.

The association says signs will be posted to announce the courtswill temporarily be used for pickleball only, with nets lowered to functions as catch nets.

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With little gear to buy and offering an easy option for all ages, pickleball's popularity has boomed during COVID-19.

The association says ithas ordered portable nets and lock boxes for each site, and plans to install a windscreen at some of the sites.

Temporary lines for the pickleball courts, which are smaller than a tennis court, will also beadded, the association said.

Growing sport faces noise complaints

Earlier this week, the mayor of Delta wrote a letter to the president of Pickleball Canada and Pickleball B.C., expressing support for the continued growth of the sport.

In the letter, George Harvie said the city has 59 courts, 36 of which have been added since 2019. He also asked organizers to address noise concerns by pursuing equipment updatesand other best practices to reduce the noise frompaddles hitting balls.

"We need to have pickleball associations get together and do some research and development of using a quieter paddle and different balls," Harvie told CBC's On The Coast.

He said he received a response to the letter saying options are being explored.

Vancouver Pickleball Association president Greg Feehansaid changing the composition of the ball would change the nature of the sport. A softer ball wouldbounce differentlyand affect players' ability to putspin on it.

"It would be equivalent to making hockey players use sponge pucks," he said.

Feehansaid the number of pickleball courts in the cityexpanded in recent years, then contracted following complaints over noise.

He is sympathetic to noise complaints, noting that in addition tothe sound of paddles hitting balls, pickleball is a "very boisterous" sportfilled withchatter between players.

Noise complaints, he argues, highlight the need for better facilitiesfor a sport that has grown more rapidly than anyone anticipated.

"I do not believe that this is a pickleball problem, it's a facilitiesproblem," he said.

"If municipalities are willing to put in grass berms, if they're willing to put in barrier fences, if they're willing to put in setbacks away from houses this will no longer be a problem."

Feehan said thecourtsin Vancouver that are being considered for the pop-up courtsare located away from housing, which should minimize noise complaints.

He acknowledged there may be pushback fromlocal tennis players, but noted that the cityhas nearly 200 public tennis courts. Atthe time the association made its proposal to the city, there were just seven courts dedicated to pickleball, a sport he says has seenhigh rates of growth.

The association says it will continue to advocatefor high-quality, permanent pickleball courts, but isgrateful for the "bridging locations" provided by the park board.

"I understand the bind that the parks board was in," Feehan said. "There's no land in Vancouver, and what there is is very expensive and lots of people clamouring for it. Anything they give to us, they had to take away from somebody else.

"They made a difficult decision and I applaud them for it."