Pickleball popularity pushes Mississauga to plan for sport’s future in the city

Not wanting to get themselves into a pickle, Mississauga officials are seeking to make a popular new sport that’s taken the city — and North America — by storm more widely available to a growing number of players.

Pickleball, one of the fastest-growing sports and activities in both Canada and the U.S. in recent years, is played using a wiffle ball on a badminton-size court with a racket larger and more durable than a ping pong paddle.

To meet the growing demand, City of Mississauga officials have in the past year or so added painted pickleball lines to many of the city’s outdoor public tennis courts to accommodate those who want to play.

And they’ll continue to do so in the short term while also looking for longer-term options to meet the needs of the city’s growing number of pickleball lovers.

Ward 2 Coun. Alvin Tedjo raised the matter on Wednesday morning at city council, saying he’s pleased so far with the city’s provisions for the pickleball community.

He noted that in response to complaints from some people late last summer that pickleball games in their neighbourhood were creating too much of a racket, city staff presented “a reasonable move forward in terms of mitigating some of the noise.”

Beyond that, the councillor said it’s important, from a health and wellness perspective as well, to continue to expand pickleball options in Mississauga. He suggested getting more tennis and pickleball clubs working together to increase playing options for the coming spring and summer season.

Jodi Robillos, Mississauga’s community services commissioner, agreed it’s a priority to increase the number of pickleball spots to better meet demand.

She added her staff continues to work with pickleball groups in order to create “more dedicated pickleball sites.”

Tedjo didn’t take last year’s public complaints lightly.

“As we’ve been celebrating people being active and participating in pickleball, we also have a number of community groups or neighbours who have raised several concerns around the noise surrounding pickleball,” Tedjo said last September.

“And while the success of the sport is obviously good for our community and health and well-being, I am sensitive to the concerns that a number of residents have very forcefully shared with us.”

Robillos said earlier that pickleball facilities to be built down the road will be outfitted with standard buffers to address any noise concerns.

The noise complaints came late last year as Mississauga hosted the Canadian National Pickleball League finals at One Health Clubs, on Cliff Road. Nearly three dozen of Canada’s top players in the relatively new sport competed.

Known in some circles as the fastest-growing sport in North America, pickleball seems to have found its place in Mississauga the last few years.