SUNDRE – There wasn’t a court to spare at the Sundre Community Centre recently when the popping sounds of paddles smacking hollow plastic balls echoed throughout the gym.
All three courts were all loaded up with mixed teams of two playing against one another in an informal and friendly yet nevertheless competitive atmosphere in which having some fun while getting some exercise largely seems to be the name of the game.
Jaymie Read, a Sundre-area resident who started playing about six months ago, was among more than a dozen people who came out to play during one of two weekly drop-in sessions put on by the Sundre Pickleball Association mid-January.
“I retired and needed something to fill my time; sort of was hesitant (at first), I thought it was an old person’s game,” he said with a smile while taking a break, little beads of sweat trickling down his forehead, when asked what initially got him playing the sport.
“But I came out and it was a lot of fun – everybody was welcoming and taught you how to play,” said Read, whose wife had already been introduced to the sport and encouraged him to give it a shot.
Some six months later, Read expressed no regrets and even said he’s been “playing more and more as a guy can, ’cause it is a lot of fun.”
And along the way, players get their steps in and their heart rates up.
“It’s great exercise for a couple of hours a day,” he said.
Asked what advice he might offer to anyone else who might be interested in playing but is erroneously under the impression – as he himself once was – that the sport is an older person’s game, Read said, “just come on out; everybody here is welcoming, you don’t need a whole bunch of skills to start. Come out and you’ll learn how to play.
“It’s an easy game to learn and your skills can keep developing,” he added.
While a volunteer-driven effort supported by local sponsorships and donations previously paved the way for a new surface at the formerly deteriorated outdoor tennis courts behind Sundre High School, the association’s membership arranges to book time indoors at the community centre throughout the winter.
Affordable drop-in sessions are scheduled every Monday and Thursday, with one group playing from 9 to 11 a.m. and another group from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. As well, there is an evening session that runs every Tuesday from 6:15 to 8 p.m. at River Valley School, organizers said.
And the timing might be just right for anyone who’s been considering picking up a paddle, with an introductory course for beginners lined up on Saturday, Feb. 17 from 1 to 4 p.m. Players must register through the Sundre Pickleball Association, which has a social media page.
