Dear editor:
Firstly, let me say that I think that pickleball is a great game. I play it on occasion and my wife belongs to the club in Penticton. I also acknowledge that the sport is growing very quickly , and that there is definitely a need for more courts in our city.
However, my concern is that the organizers of pickleball would have you believe that there are very few tennis players in the city.
Nothing could be further from the truth. In fact there are 150-plus adult members and 65 youth members ( and growing) currently belonging to the Penticton Tennis Club, along with lots of non members playing regularly on the courts. With the success of the Canadian professional players on the pro circuit, interest from young players is growing across Canada.
I currently play 3 to 4 times weekly with a group of 20 seniors, several who have played for many years in this city. I also spare for another group of 10 seniors who also play 3 times weekly. Oftentimes we are moved off the courts at Skaha by others waiting to play, and at Princess Margaret and McLaren by student groups learning the game.
In trying to lobby city council for more pickleball courts, the organizers seem focused on taking away tennis courts and having them converted into pickleball courts, or converting all tennis courts into dual tennis/pickleball courts. Taking courts away from one sport to give to another is ludicrous at best. Combining the two sports onto 1 court is a certain recipe for disaster, which I have witnessed first hand as a snowbird in Arizona. It becomes a race each day to see who gets there first, and often results in heated exchanges of words and even fist fights.
I believe there are already plans for 2 more courts at the Senior Centre location, and other options could include the lacrosse facility at Skaha Lake Park, which is used only for exercising dogs off leash, and courts on Columbia which are virtually unusable for tennis.
I totally understand and support the need for more pickleball courts, but absolutely not at the expense of any tennis courts.
Larry Johnston
Penticton