Supervision Will Likely Continue to Grow in Popularity

Pickleball continues to grow in Peterborough popularity

Group would like to see a dedicated facillity built, but away from residences

The Peterborough Pickleball Association is continuing to expand its influence.

Pickleball has been the fastest-growing sport in North America for some time now and Peterborough is no different. The number of players grew to the point a formal association was formed last October with a number of goals.

One goal was to unite the community of players and provide more organized play such as tournaments, leagues and clinics. This weekend will mark the first major tournament organized by PPA when more than 175 players take to the courts for the inaugural Summer Smash at Bonnerworth Park.

The men's and women's doubles divisions will be played Saturday starting at 8 a.m. and the mixed divisions will go on Sunday starting at 8 a.m. It will feature players from their teens to their seventies in a variety of divisions based on age and ability.

The driving force behind creating the association was to advocate for proper pickleball facilities.

They are using tennis courts at Bonnerworth which they line to modify for pickleball but it's not ideal and moreover a number of patchwork repairs had to be made to make the courts playable because of cracked and uneven asphalt.

"It's kind of embarrassing really that the city of Peterborough has this kind of facility," said PPA president Bruce Bozec, "when you look right across Canada at what smaller communities are doing. It's amazing."

They've met with the city's arena, parks and recreation board to express their needs. The city has hired a consultant to assess the city's needs for recreational facilities and the pickleball group was asked to provide their input. Bozec initially hoped the report would go to the current city council but he said now it's more likely the new council elected this fall will be the ones to receive the report and make any decisions.

"We hope to convince the City of Peterborough to build dedicated pickleball courts," said Bozec.

Ideally, they'd like to build 16 courts at one location.

"The one thing we don't want is pickleball courts in a residential area," he said. "There has been a lot in the news lately about the noise of pickleball. Some municipalities are having trouble within neighbours so we don't want to be anywhere near residential. We understand there is noise."

The association would love to build at the Peterborough Naval Association property purchased by the city. There is already an existing building that could be used as a clubhouse with washrooms and change facilities, enough land to accommodate the courts and parking.

"That will be up to council," said Bozec.

A proposed 12-court complex in Barrie has been estimated at more than $1.64 million. Bozec said if the local project was done at the former Naval club it would reduce the costs dramatically.

"All we would need to build is the courts," he said.

Proceeds of Summer Smash will go into a fund the PPA will put toward the building of courts.

"If council goes ahead and approves something like this they're going to want us to kick in some money," he said.

Such a facility can boost sports tourism.

"With 16 courts you could hold good sized tournaments. You could hold provincials here and bring in other tournaments. Peterborough has done very well at tournaments. We went to nationals and won 32 medals as a relatively young club. We were one of the best clubs there," said Bozec.

They also won a pile of medals at a tournament in Hamilton this month.

'Peterborough is becoming a place to play pickleball. We have some good players here," he said.

The third annual Kawartha Open, organized by former Peterborough resident Ryan Hanes, will be held Sept. 30 to Oct. 2 at Bonnerworth with more than 250 players expected.

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Source: https://www.thepeterboroughexaminer.com/sports/peterborough-region/2022/08/25/pickleball-continues-to-grow-in-peterborough-popularity.html

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