The annual Red Deer Open Pickleball Tournament has returned to Red Deer for another year.
From Aug. 11 - 14, 400 people from Western Canada and the United States who are some of the sports’ best players will compete for medals in multiple events.
President of the Red Deer Pickleball Club Bob Philip said the majority of people competing are from Alberta but met a man who in registration travelled from Washington. He said this is a great community event and marks a year since they held the 2021 Pickleball National Championships.
“It introduces a lot of players together and It’s a fundraiser for the club as well. We generate a bit of fund for the club benefit for future programs and stuff we want to do. We’ve really focused on youth this year, training, coaching, and improving member abilities,” Philip said.
Through the three days, they will have male and female singles, mixed doubles, men’s doubles, and female doubles. The brackets are based on age and skill level and follow a similar format to tennis. They start from one through to five and the higher the number the higher the skill bracket.
Philip said the sport is growing substantially in Canada and in Red Deer.
“Our club in Red Deer in 2019 when we opened the courts here there was probably 250 members,” he said. “Last year we held Nationals our club was just over 400 members and this year we’re 650 members in Red Deer alone. Across Canada It’s a large growing sport, it used to be a sport for seniors and now we’re starting to see a lot younger and youth coming into the sport, which is becoming quite dramatic.”
The tournament is located beside St. Joseph High School at the pickleball courts and is free for the public to attend.
“The public is very welcome to come to the courts and watch the sport. We’d really appreciate more people coming and watching it will improve our membership. It’s a sport for all ages and that’s one thing I really want to stress and It’s a lot of fun,” he added.
