Skip to content

Players relish pickleball

What game could be sweeter than a match of pickleball? The sport that blends badminton, tennis and table tennis has been bringing the curious and the competitive to Westlock for matches every week all year long.
George Oko backhands the ball over the net to Caren Gawryluk (left) and David Lent. Pickleball players matched off for an afternoon round robin game at the Rotary Spirit
George Oko backhands the ball over the net to Caren Gawryluk (left) and David Lent. Pickleball players matched off for an afternoon round robin game at the Rotary Spirit Centre Dec. 21.

What game could be sweeter than a match of pickleball?

The sport that blends badminton, tennis and table tennis has been bringing the curious and the competitive to Westlock for matches every week all year long.

“We’re not a club,” said organizer George Oko. “We’re just a group of pickleball players, so anybody can come anytime that we’re playing pickleball and join the group.”

Oko and his wife saw their first pickleball game while on vacation in Hawaii. When they returned home, they checked into it and found a group in Spruce Grove.

“We went there and learned about it there, and then we brought it here and started it playing hit here with some friends,” he said.

“People just kept coming and saying, ‘what is that game? Can we try it?’ So we just kept growing and growing.”

The group now has about 50 to 60 players that come play on and off throughout the week at one of many games held everyday except Saturday at the Rotary Spirit Centre. Meet ups usually last around two hours, which is enough to squeeze in eight games.

Games start at 1 p.m. on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday. Later games start at 7 p.m. on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays.

“There’s a lot of opportunity to play and I think a lot of people are finding that there’s different times so they don’t have to come all the time, they come whenever they want,” he said. “It’s a social type thing, too. You’re out meeting people and playing with people and meeting people in your community, which is nice.”

About a dozen players got together last Wednesday afternoon for a round robin match at the fieldhouse.

One player, Gale Miller, who was rocketing the ball across the court, has been playing for three years.

“I usually go south and they played pickleball there, so I started playing pickleball,” she said. “Then I came home and discovered there was pickleball here, so here we are playing pickleball and enjoying it.”

Another player, Agnes Laughy, had been living in Fawcett and finally gave in to the urging of a friend when she moved to town.

“All the time we were in Fawcett, they kept saying, ‘You have to come and play pickleball. You have to come and play pickleball,’ so we did when we moved here, and we’ve been enjoying it and playing for two and a half years,” she said.

So what does she love about the sport?

“The exercise, the people are great, friendships,” she said, noting that she gets together with a few players outside the court.

As a whole, the group gets together all year and head outside to the tennis courts when the weather warms up. While most players are 30 or older, there are a few younger players trickling in and there’s always room for more.

Oko noted that everyone is free to sign up at any time. All a player needs to get started is a paddle and flat court shoes for easy movement. If you don’t have a paddle, someone is sure to lend you one of their extras until you decide if you want to join for good.

“The thing with a paddle is then you keep buying them because you think the next one is going to give you a little more,” Oko said with a laugh as he pulled four paddles from his bag.

In a game of pickleball, players serve diagonally from behind a white line to the other court across a 36-inch net on the ground. The opposition has to then let the ball bounce once, return it, and the other side can let it bounce once or volley it in the air.

A non-volley zone is in front of the net to prevent players from standing right at the net and hitting the ball over.

The games are round-robin style and played to a score of 11. A chart pairs up every player with a new partner each day they come.

Competition really heats up at two home tournaments the group hosts each year when the time changes — the Spring Ahead tournament and the Fall Back tournament.

“We get players from Red Deer north, Bonnyville,” Oko said. “They’re starting to recognize we have a facility that’s conducive to having a tournament in that we have three sections and eight courts we can use.”

The next Spring Ahead tournament will be held in March.

push icon
Be the first to read breaking stories. Enable push notifications on your device. Disable anytime.
No thanks