They want to be in a real pickle

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 15/08/2023 (786 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

You don’t have to explain the allure of pickleball to Nicholas Rush and Ted Fardoe.

The Winnipeg entrepreneurs caught the bug years ago and have been immersed in the game as participants and coaches. Now, they want to do their bit as builders of the sport by developing the province’s first indoor facility dedicated solely to pickleball.

The game, which combines elements of tennis, badminton and table tennis, was invented in 1965 but has experienced a boom in popularity worldwide over the last decade. That enthusiasm has swept through the province, where the demands for court time have put a strain on the availability of suitable venues.

“I established a club (Pickleball Club of Winnipeg) where I rented space from schools and started helping to grow the game as much as I could and realized that there is a massive facility shortage for pickleball, in part because we’re competing with other sports,” says Rush, a retired professional badminton coach who is now the co-owner of Fenwick and Company Interior Designs. “I just thought it would be nice to have a dedicated pickleball facility one day.”

Fardoe, a general contractor and project manager, has been working with Rush on a business plan capable of successfully operating a dedicated pickleball facility, which would have both indoor and outdoor courts. With the aid of Pickleball Manitoba, they recently distributed a second online survey to test the feasibility of their plans.

“This whole survey thing is predicated on determining exactly how much use we’re going to get,” says Fardoe, who serves as the vice-president of Pickleball Manitoba. “Is our senior grouping in the 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. time slots going to be able to produce enough revenue to make the project viable, right along with what goes on in the evenings?

“We think there’s definitely a market out there from daytime play with the seniors… Whether they’re willing to come over to a private facility or not, we’re not sure. There’s very little evening play and very little opportunity (in the city).”

While seniors make up the bulk of the sport’s current participant base, the numbers are changing. The survey suggests that a proposed venue would consist of seven to nine indoor courts with the addition of a number of outdoor courts.

Winnipeg currently has three locations with dedicated outdoor pickleball courts: three at La Fleche Park, eight at Winnipeg West and four more courts at Jill Officer Park. Tennis courts, which are often adapted for use by pickleball players, do not have regulation pickleball lines or nets.

Local pickleballers normally pay between $3 and $5 for two-hour indoor sessions at community centres such as Dakota Fieldhouse. The daily drop-in fee at Dakota is $7.

“There’s a lot of a lot of younger people getting involved in the game, enjoying the game and wanting to excel at the game and we think it’s our target market,” says Fardoe. “We think there’s definitely a market for that and will be easier to capture… We can’t afford to offer it in a private facility at $3 to $5 but we can afford to offer it if they’re willing to pay a little bit more.”

Rush says Taylor Tennis Centre and Prairie Badminton serve their respective sports well and a hybrid model could be sustainable for pickleball in the city.

Pickleball Manitoba president Rose Sawatzky of Morden believes a pickleball-only facility is inevitable. Fardoe and Rush have already received 200 responses for the most recent survey.

“I believe that with enough (survey) responses from not only the city of Winnipeg members, but also those from surrounding areas, that there’s a good sense it’s going to go ahead,” says Sawatzky, adding her organization has gone from 200 members to 1,300 in the past eight years and estimates there are about 6,000 active players in the province.

“I would definitely support a facility such as that. You could be using it for tournaments and hosting clinics and getting the youth involved and indigenous (groups).”

Rush and Fardoe won’t reveal the location of their proposed facility or what it will cost but say they are currently negotiating a lease with landowners.

“If building construction could start in the fall then it’s conceivable it could be open in the spring or summer,” says Rush. “We don’t want it to lose money. It’s important that it not lose money. It will be a private investment.”

The survey can be viewed at: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/CRRVVD7

mike.sawatzky@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @sawa14