Agree: Pickleballers shouldn’t be permanently poaching Vancouver tennis courts

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Tennis and pickleball players are vying for the same playing fields, but have joined forces in Vancouver to say neither group supports the poaching of public tennis courts to make way for the increasingly popular pickleball .

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“We don’t want to just share space,” said Nick Tchernikov, president of the new Vancouver Tennis Society, which represents grassroots tennis players on public courts.

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The company and the Vancouver Pickleball Association recently released a joint statement recommending that the Vancouver Park Board build dedicated pickleball centers, rather than replacing part of the public tennis courts for the sport that players say has too few places to play.

“The VPA and VTS believe that by working together, the two associations can better increase the availability and usability of dedicated pickleball and tennis courts,” the document states.

“No association will advocate the permanent marking of pickleball lines on existing tennis courts,” he said.

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The tennis company does not want to lose courts and the pickleball group said converting tennis courts for their sport was inadequate because pickleball requires court lines, nets, fencing and space around courts. different shorts.

“Both associations also find that split lines create conflict between tennis and pickleball players,” the statement said.

Vancouver has 174 public tennis courts, or about one for every 3,880 citizens. The nearby city of Richmond has 107 courts, or about one for every 2,000 citizens.

Vancouver this summer, from July to October, temporarily converted 10 of its tennis courts into 40 pickleball courts. He invites comments on his “pop-up program”.

The PBA-VTS joint statement said it supported the courts’ temporary conversion for pickleball play, but did not want it to become permanent.

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Tennis BC on its website said, “Adding pickleball lines to tennis courts is a conflict-laden band-aid solution that reduces the enjoyment of both sports” and it recommends that municipalities build pickleball centers. But pitch is scarce and expensive, and the noise generated by the ball hitting a pickleball racquet limits where pitches are welcome.

VanPlay, the Vancouver park board’s master plan, said the supply of tennis courts is “good” but around 60 per cent are in poor condition. The plan also stated, “Pickleball is a growing sport that needs additional space on the court.”

VanPlay’s asset goal for 2040 includes improving the condition of tennis courts, but does not intend to increase the number of courts.

He also said that by 2040 he would “add lines and equipment to accommodate pickleball in four new locations” by adding two pickleball courts “by capital plan.”

And it plans to “increase the supply of pickleball courts and other sports courts through renewals or the construction of new multi-sport courts”.