The Ponoka Pickleball Club recently welcomed several Bashaw pickleball players to town for a tournament on Oct. 5.
"We decided to make it an annual event," said Shirley Turner, a Ponoka club member, who organized the event along with Shelley Buss and Brad Buss.
About six players from Bashaw came for the meet which saw 32 players take part in a round-robin format. Ultimately, bronze, silver, and gold awards were handed down as well. Brad Buss landed gold, Maypu Mann took home the silver, and Tara Smith finished up with the bronze.
"Every player played eight games each, plus playoffs," Turner said, adding they even had dill pickle chips on hand for fun.
She said it's also wonderful to see increasing numbers of young people taking part in the sport.
"The youngest we had at the tournament was 13 years old," she said. The age range went from there all the way up to players in their 70s.
"It shows you the sheer scope of the age bracket that takes part in it. And the youth of today are getting in on it, too," she added. "It's fantastic."
Looking ahead, the local club moves indoors for the winter months. "We play all year long at the Ponoka Elementary School - Tuesdays and Thursdays. That will start up in a couple of weeks."
For Turner, discovering pickleball has been a joy.
"I moved from Ontario, and I had never really heard about it. My sister had been playing for many, many years, and she said to come out and play when I was visiting one time.
"Especially with our winters in Alberta, it's a good way of staying fit as well," she said, adding it's also an excellent means of connecting with others in the community.
"Slowly, you get a bit addicted to it," she added with a laugh. "And at the end of the day, it's just about having fun."
According to www.pickleballcanada.org, the second Saturday of August each year is designated as National Pickleball Day.
"Pickleball has seen incredible growth amongst all Canadians. In 2023, Pickleball Canada commissioned a national research company to look at pickleball participation levels in Canadians. It was found that more than 1.37 million Canadians are playing pickleball at least once per month, with more than half playing four or more times per month."
This past July, Pickleball Canada also reached 70,000 members.
For more information about the Ponoka Pickleball Club, call Shirley Turner at 905-802-0751 or find the Ponoka Pickleball Club on Facebook.
