Saturday, August 13, marked National Pickleball Day 2022 in Canada. The second Saturday of August each year is designated National Pickleball Day, an opportunity for the pickleball community to celebrate the sport that brings us together, also serving as an excellent recruitment opportunity for clubs across the country.
This year, National Pickleball Day was truly a national event, with players young, old, beginner, and advanced coming together to spend a day of fun on the courts. Pickleball Canada received submissions from members in eight provinces sharing their stories, pictures, and what pickleball means to them.
A few highlights of the stories received include:
- Fredericton, New Brunswick – The Fredericton Pickleball Club celebrated National Pickleball Day with 5 hours of outdoor fun league play in beautiful weather.
- Vaudreuil-Dorion, Quebec – The Vaudreuil-Dorion Pickleball Club hosted a successful initiation event with 32 new players registered. The club used four courts to teach new players the game, while on another four courts members demonstrated the sport and paired up with newly initiated players.
- Grand Bend, Ontario – One and a half years ago, Dave Tomlinson’s group started with 6 players outside on a seldom used municipal basketball court. On National Pickleball Day, 31 attending players spent the day on that same court, now 3 pickleball courts, that had a $20,000 facelift. The group continues to lobby for more courts, demonstrating the increasing demand for pickleball in their community.
- Winnipeg, Manitoba – Jeffrey Xie founded the LF South Winnipeg Pickleball Club just one week before National Pickleball Day and celebrated by teaching a group of beginner players the game of pickleball. Jeffrey is passionate about bringing pickleball to newcomers to Canada and demonstrating how sport can help immigrants build new connections and adapt to life in Canada.
- Cortes Island, British Columbia – Don Hall and his group of dedicated pickleball players celebrated the day playing pickleball on their small, rural island off the coast of British Columbia.
As pickleball continues to see rapid growth throughout the country, Pickleball Canada continues to work to develop key programs and policies needed to advance the sport for all, for life.
Mark Saturday, August 12, 2023, on your calendars as National Pickleball Day 2023! We cannot wait to see the growth and development of pickleball from this year to next.
If you have additional stories from National Pickleball Day 2022 that you would like to share with us, please send it to Kaitlyn Green, Project Coordinator at Kaitlyn.green@pickleballcanada.org.