qathet Pickleball Association’s (qPA) president appeared before City of Powell River councillors to receive an update on support to develop a pickleball facility.
At the May 20 committee of the whole meeting, Susan Young said it has been six months since council passed a motion on November 19, 2024, that the letter from her dated November 8 regarding qPA’s request for a land lease, be referred to staff to bring back a report to council.
“Since that time, I have been inundated with queries about that motion, and about the progress,” said Young. “I have been unable to provide any kind of a specific update and any specific answers.
“qPA is fully aware the city has gone through some significant staff turnovers over the past little while. Nevertheless, we believe it is time to share what we have been doing since we last met, and what the city staff have been doing, and figure out a way to move forward and work together on some kind of a plan.”
Young said the reason qPA has previously presented on the need for a facility has not changed since it last presented. She said, in fact, the association believes it has increased in scope.
Powell River Racquet Centre closed in February, creating a further strain on the pickleball community, she added.
“When the racquet centre closed, Powell River and qathet lost four indoor pickleball courts,” said Young. “Not only did we lose the quantity of space, but we lost the quality of court space.
“qPA has been able to find limited space at Vancouver Island University. We also recently got play space at Oceanview gym during afternoons, but again, it’s a limited time space. These facilities are basically schools first.”
In terms of quality of space, Young said there is not enough room by the courts or behind the courts in school facilities, with balls going into active play on other courts.
“There have been people falling over balls,” said Young. “People are also literally running into walls.”
Young said qPA continues to teach younger players at schools and the children love it, but again, there is no space for youth afterward.
She said there have been missed grant writing opportunities, possible cost increases to building.
“We are asking for constructive collaboration with the community to create a concrete movement toward some type of dedicated pickleball facility for everyone,” said Young.
Mayor Ron Woznow asked how many people have had a pickleball racquet in their hands. Young said qPA has looked at its numbers and believes there to be local 300 players.
Councillor George Doubt asked staff to outline what the challenges are and when it might be possible to bring back a report.
Acting chief administrative officer Jason Gow said there has been a significant city staff turnover.
“Obviously, this is a priority for the pickleball association,” said Gow, who then called on director of parks, recreation and culture Jamie Bretzlaff to speak to specifics.
Bretzlaff said the department has had capacity issues and has not been able to tackle this report.
“We hope to move this forward in a more fulsome way and to provide options and opportunities across departments,” said Bretzlaff. “At this point, we would not have an estimate of when we are able to do that. We’ve initiated our scoping of the report, but our capacity has truly prevented us from tackling this in a meaningful way.”
Woznow said about a year ago he was introduced to the qPA board and since then has had a number of opportunities to meet with board members and pickleball players who ask what progress has been made. He said he has reached out to other mayors to see how communities have addressed establishing pickleball facilities. The mayor added that he has put in place a standing committee of councillors Jim Palm and Earl Almeida, Young and a couple of other individuals.
“We are going to offload some of the work on staff and see if there is a property that would make sense that would achieve the strategic goals of the city,” said Woznow, “and allow the pickleball association to make it easier to raise money.”
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