Charlottetown's first pickleball team looking for spaces to play after hundreds of enthusiasts signe

Pickleball has been gaining popularity these last few years in P.E.I, and the first club in the capital is exploding too. 

By Val Mandujano, Sept. 27, 2023

Lisa Murphy did not expect more than 200 people to join her club. 

As a pickleball fan, Murphy attended the Pickleball P.E.I. annual general meeting.  

    She sat down and listened. 

    There were complaints about the rapidly increasing number of players with no venues to practice. 

    To ask for spaces, it is required to have an organized club. 

    “Why not do something about that?” Murphy thought. 

    After the meeting, she contacted a friend, Parker Fisher. 

    Fisher and Murphy started the Charlottetown Pickleball Club and have been directing it since.  

    “What we are is a rapidly growing group, we are pickleball enthusiasts,” said Murphy. 

The advance group of the Charlottetown Pickleball club practices on Tuesday nights at the Chi-Wang Young center in UPEI. The four courts are filled with 16 players at a time. VAL MANDUJANO PHOTO

    A month after the Pickleball P.E.I. meeting, on June 21, the club had people playing on the courts for the first time. 

    The practices are at the Chi-wan Young Centre at University of Prince Edward Island (UPEI). 

    Murphy contacted the facilities manager of the center in an effort to find space for the club to practice. 

    "I really didn´t expected her to say ‘yes’, but she did,” said Murphy.

    Within the three months since its beginnings, the club now has 200 people signed up and counting.  

    The club has been working on mailing lists, getting equipment, and the designing a logo. 

    “It has been an adventure,” said Murphy. 

    Today, there are about 100 people playing every week at the UPEI sports center, but with all the demand, Murphy and her team are trying to find more places for the players to practice.  

Lisa Murphy started the first Charlottetown Pickleball Club without knowing it would fill up so fast. With 200 players signed in, she is looking for a bigger venue with proper facilities to play at. VAL MANDUJANO PHOTO

    The club has found some courts in elementary schools, community centers and outdoor tennis courts, but it might not be enough. 

    “People play in the summer, but it is really hard to do that in the winter, so that’s why we are trying to line up places now,” said Murphy.  

    At least four courts adapted specifically for the sport would be ideal for the pickleball team to fit 16 people playing at the same time, said Fisher, vice-president of the club.

    “We just need an open spot with high ceilings." 

    The government has not provided much for the team, so they started to look on their own.

    “We met with them, but it wasn’t the most productive thing,” said Fisher.  

    Despite that, Murphy is expecting the update of an unused tennis court, promised by Charlottetown’s parks and recreation department, for next year’s spring season. 

    “Pickleball is just hitting the world. It’s taking a while for municipalities to catch up to provide parks and recreation for the sport,” said Murphy. 

A growing sport

    The huge number of people who joined the club did so by word of mouth. 

    Mike Sider attends the club on Wednesday nights for the intermediate practice. 

    He discovered pickleball when the club started in late June and has been practicing with his wife ever since. 

    “It’s good to be part of a growing sport,” he said. 

    The sport has grown so fast that even schools like Bluefield High School, started to add pickleball practices for gym class.  

    “My kids play at school. It's growing in the younger generation too,” said Sider. 

    Pickleball has been the number one growing sport played in North America for the last three years in a row. Participants say it is easy to learn, and the costs of equipment like rackets, balls and net are accessible compared to other sports. 

    “This is a sport where you really don’t have to invest that much,” said Murphy. 

Despite the space UPEI shared with the club, with the high increase of people, more courts are required for everyone to play during different times of the day. VAL MANDUJANO PHOTO

    Added to that, it is a sport for all abilities.  

    “We have a player who is 78. He comes every week. And then we even have athletes who come to play,” said Murphy. “It is a different game based on your capacity, but it is fun regardless.” 

    For Fisher, the popularity of the sport is due to is versatility and ease to improve at it. 

    “It is an easy sport to pick up. Not anyone can master pickleball, but anyone can pick it up,” he said. 

Pickleball equipment

    Gordon Dover has been playing for seven years. He took over the sports shop, The Trophy Hut, after his uncle ran it for more than 30 years. 

    Dover added pickleball equipment to the store since he took it over and it has been a success.  

    He is a coach for the sport along with his wife and played with their own group but had played sometimes at the Charlottetown club. 

    Dover met Murphy when she came to buy a paddle from him.  

    “The new Charlottetown club is a great addition, it has provided extra play times that were much needed,” he said. 

 The Trophy Hut is a sports shop near downtown Charlottetown. Gordon Dover, a pickleball coach, has been running it since last year. He lets customers try demo paddles before buying. He sometimes helps at practices at the Charlottetown Pickleball Club. VAL MANDUJANO PHOTO

Dover finds it great that the sport has become more popular. 

    “Over the past couple of years, it has really taken off,” he said. "It has become so popular because it reaches every age group. Once you play you are almost immediately addicted.” 

    In time, the Charlottetown club has plans to organize big tournaments, but they need the space for six courts at least to run them. 

    “Another reason why we need a venue. We want to bring people in, we know we can,” said Murphy.  

What's next

    For the next few weeks, the club will start some practices at a new venue at a school in Sherwood, with three courts for their players. 

    Despite that, the pickleball club is still looking to have its own place. 

    Murphy wants the club to have its own building with facilities to practice, not only for pickleball but all racket sports in the city that don’t have the proper spaces. 

    “We deserve a place,” she said. 

    Both Murphy and Fisher are happy with the growth of the team and hope it continues. 

      "It’s nice to walk into the gym, see the room crowd and know that you are part of the reason they are there,” said Parker.  

    “I’m shocked this is something I'm doing,” said Murphy. “There’s a place here for me, and that’s a big deal.”