City’s ‘phenomenal’ pickleball facility gets its grand opening

“I can tell you that people from other communities are just gobsmacked with, with this facility in terms of how easy it is to play, how you don’t get the balls bouncing into other people’s courts, the safety of the size of our courts, the consistency of the grit on the surface for our footwear,” MacPhail enthuses. “It’s just a phenomenal facility. You can see properly, there’s no shadows from trees. It’s a phenomenally designed facility and it’s literally the best facility in the country.”

The expansive courts, aisleways and viewing spaces for spectators also received rave reviews from provincials participants, MacPhail says.

The weekend tournament brought in close to $23,000 for the club and nearly $300,000 in economic spinoff to the community.

MacPhail says the city deserves a lot of thanks for how it supported the facility’s construction.

Mayor Linnsie Clark says the club was instrumental in keeping the project moving forward the past few years as pickleball became one of the fastest-growing sports in North America.

“The pickleball club is extremely organized and they have the knowledge and expertise to drive something like this and they also did an incredible amount of fundraising so that’s an excellent model,” Clark says. “It’s community-driven. It’s something that isn’t top down, the city saying ‘this is what we need, this is what we want.’ It’s actually community members coming together and driving progress for their community.”

Clark adds the city is extremely excited to have the facility and it’s already putting Medicine Hat on the map as a pickleball centre.

The club’s previous home at Strathcona Island Park had eight courts, which MacPhail says would be filled once a day. The 20 courts at Big Marble Go Centre are filled on quite a few days and the lightning system allows players to swing the rackets well into the evening.

MacPhail encourages anyone who wants to get started to stop by the facility, says the sport is easy to learn no matter your age.

“The club offers those opportunities where you can just come out, get started and we offer learn to play, we offer clinics, we offer all the developmental opportunities to get you from where you start to where you might want to finish and that’s depending on your skill, your athleticism and to some degree your age.”

Medicine Hat has the highest number of junior members in the province as of today, he says, and the club’s total membership is 350. Getting more people in their 20s, 30s and 40s into the sport is something the club would like to see.

“It’s why we invested in the lights so they could play into the evening,” MacPhail says. “I think you’ll just see that it will continue to expand.”

by Chris Brown

City’s ‘phenomenal’ pickleball facility gets its grand opening

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