Winnipeg’s latest pickleball hub a real banger Pickleball Club of Winnipeg has welcomed more than 800 people since opening its doors By: Joshua Frey-Sam Posted: 4:54 PM CST Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2025

Nicholas Rush described the last 12 months as an adventure — one filled with frustration as he dinked and dunked through the tumultuous process of launching Winnipeg’s first indoor facility dedicated to pickleball.

The local entrepreneur and his two business partners’ Pickleball Club of Winnipeg opened its doors in the Rocke Development Business Park in Headingley in October and, for Rush, it had felt like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders as the grand unveiling came 10 months later than he had originally targeted.

“I knew this was going to be a big project. I probably didn’t realize how big,” Rush said Tuesday.

Rush noted that many of the factors that caused delays were beyond his control — such as several delays with deliveries and construction services — but that didn’t ease the burden he felt.

“Our first delay, if you will, was almost two to three months, and then we had another one where we were just waiting for concrete to be poured,” he said.

While Rush leaned on his wife, an interior designer, to plan the finishing touches, he wore several hats as the project got off the ground, acting as a general contractor before switching gears to a general manager role who looks after the day-to-day operations.

As the process continued and the hats changed, the workload increased.

“I just turned 50 in September… and I confided in all the people (at my surprise party) that this has been a really tough year for me personally, and we’re here,” he said. “We got through it. And the delays were a huge stressor, because I felt that I had let down the community by these delays.”

Rush, who has his marketing hat on these days, can breathe a sigh of relief.

“I knew this was going to be a big project. I probably didn’t realize how big.”

The PCW has welcomed more than 800 people in the last eight weeks, while more than 100 dedicated pickleballers have purchased memberships, with more signing up each week.

“It’s been great. I had heard anecdotally from everyone that pickleball was growing leaps and bounds, and I hadn’t seen it because I was playing in my own specific groups, but now I’ve seen so many people who are coming from different places. I meet new people, and it’s great. That side of seeing community is great,” Rush said.

The 24,000 square-foot facility hosts eight indoor courts, with five more outdoor courts to be added in the spring. Rush called the PCW a hybrid private club, with the option to drop in or purchase a membership.

This week, the club will launch a new pay-as-you-go membership model that is at a reduced rate for players with fixed incomes.

“We have a long way to go, I think. We want to grow, we want to get more people through the doors, we want to grow our memberships,” Rush said. “We (thought of) ways to crack a different demographic — a few more of the seniors, a few more of the fixed-income people — and try and come up with something that’s almost subsidized, I’d say.”

Pickleball, recognized as Canada’s fastest-growing sport, continues to boom across the country, and Winnipeg is no exception.

The PCW is the latest to officially join what is expected to be a substantial run of new facilities opening around the province. A pair of courts at the Pickle Haüs, attached to Prairie Badminton in Transcona, opened last year, while The Picklr, an American chain in the midst of a major expansion north of the border, is expected to open its first Canadian location in south Winnipeg before winter’s end.

The Picklr anticipates opening two more locations in the provincial capital and a fourth in Brandon by 2030. Parlay those plans with the numerous gyms, community centres and churches that regularly convert their spaces to accommodate pickleball and there will quickly be plenty of options for Manitobans to play year-round.

Rush isn’t threatened by the growing competition.

Despite the surge in facilities opening, he maintains Winnipeg is still starving for more courts. There is eventually a point at which the market could be oversaturated, but he believes there is still a long way before that point is met.

“The more facilities we have, the better for all of the citizens of that area. We need facilities.”

“The more facilities we have, the better for all of the citizens of that area. We need facilities,” Rush said.

“From the business side, I also think it helps, because the more places there are for people to play… it just gets more people playing. We need more facilities. We need to grow the game for the longevity of the sport, and just the business model.”

Rush has committed to growing the PCW’s community reach by creating more playing opportunities for kids and building programs for at-risk youth.

He also remains interested in adding a second PCW location in the future.

“As much as a club wants to remain private and have a membership model, I think we also have a responsibility to the community to continue to be accessible,” he said.

winnipegfreepress.com/joshuafreysam