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Where can you play pickleball in Edmonton?¶
Posted by Michael Janz on December 31, 2024
We recently received a memo from city administration about the "state of pickleball" in Edmonton, and I wanted to share this with you.
Edmontonians love recreation and sport. From our incredible number of outdoor ice rinks, to our river valley trails and pathways, we sure love to get outdoors and enjoy our city, no matter the weather. Recreation activities are changing and we've received more and more requests for activities such as pickleball.
Pickleball Amenities in Edmonton¶
Pickleball is recognized as a popular and fast-growing sport in North America. It has a low barrier to entry and is enjoyed by players of all ages, both recreationally and competitively. Pickleball clubs have emerged as strong advocates for the sport, providing instruction, community, and amenity development to accommodate the growing need for places to play.
Indoor Pickleball¶
Indoor pickleball is played in gymnasiums in schools, recreation centres, community halls, seniors centres, churches, etc., and in privately run dedicated pickleball facilities. In City facilities, pickleball is popular during designated times for drop-in and open gym use, mostly by recreational players. There are approximately 180 hours of dedicated drop-in pickleball weekly across four sites and 1,330 hours of open gym time available weekly across six sites. Two sites also have 380 hours available that can be reserved. All of these hours are fully utilized on a regular basis. Pickleball clubs can also book available rental times in City gymnasiums; however, most clubs and leagues choose to book in private, dedicated pickleball facilities.
Outdoor Pickleball¶
Currently, the City operates 35 outdoor pickleball courts. The majority of these are courts that are lined for both tennis and pickleball, a practice that has allowed for pickleball to be accommodated on existing infrastructure without reducing the number of City-run tennis courts. In 2023, the City opened 12 dedicated pickleball courts: eight at Confederation Park and four at Glengarry Park as part of district park renewal projects. To address community demand, three pickleball practice courts were also created on the practice tennis court space at Mill Woods District Park. Since their implementation, Administration has received feedback that there are challenges with space and the east/west orientation. Based on that feedback, the courts will be changed to one dedicated pickleball court in 2025. This will still allow for tennis users to access the practice walls as well.
Most use on outdoor City courts is spontaneous, though players can book time slots on designated courts through MoveLearnPlay. Because most use is spontaneous, there is no waitlist. Court guidelines ask that if people are waiting, current users limit their game to 45 minutes to allow others the opportunity to play. The City has received very few complaints about this system.
A number of community leagues have outdoor pickleball courts, many of which were developed on pre-existing community league tennis courts. Community league courts are developed and operated at the discretion of the league, so schedule, membership requirements and costs vary. One example of community league court development is at Royal Gardens, where the Edmonton Pickleball Club worked with the community league to develop courts where Edmonton Pickleball Club members now play.
Future Pickleball Amenity Opportunities¶
The City is committed to considering pickleball in future district park plans to accommodate the growing interest and is open to working with community partners to develop recreation amenities. For example, a non-binding expression of interest to cover existing tennis courts was issued in 2021. From this, a community-led project was proposed to cover the tennis courts at Jasper Place or to build a new year-round tennis facility at John Fry Sports Park. The project proponent has chosen to focus efforts at Jasper Place and the project is currently in concept phase. If this community-funded project proceeds, the proposal is to cover the existing tennis courts and convert two of them into eight pickleball courts.
Beginning November 26, 2024, the City is embarking on a comprehensive research study to better understand the overall recreation and sport needs in Edmonton and expects to gather more information about pickleball as part of this process. A memo regarding this study was shared with Council November 20, 2024.
Regional Pickleball Amenities¶
There are a number of outdoor pickleball courts in the region. As in Edmonton, pickleball in the region is played indoors in many schools, churches and recreation centres. There are also private indoor facilities just outside of Edmonton.
Outdoor courts in the region include:
- Leduc: 12 courts at Lede Park; funded by both the City of Leduc and Leduc County
- Sherwood Park: Four courts at Village on the Lake and eight courts at Sherwood Heights. The courts at Sherwood Heights were developed in partnership with the Government of Alberta and the Strathcona County Pickleball Association.
- Spruce Grove: 12 courts at Henry Singer Ball Park that were developed in partnership with the Government of Alberta and the Parkland Pickleheads Pickleball Club.
- St. Albert: Six courts at Larose Park and 12 courts at Alpine Park. The Alpine Park courts were developed in partnership with the St. Albert Pickleball Club.
Courts operated by pickleball clubs are primarily for member use and have more structure to how the courts are booked. They are generally unavailable for spontaneous use.