Pickleball's growth raises a racket in Victoria, amid bans over noise complaints

Pickleball players readily admit their sport makes noise, but complaining about the sound of people having a healthy good time is out of bounds, say players and officials.

Connie McCann bounces a ball off her paddle, and says the rhythmic pok-pok-pok is only about as loud as street traffic or rain on a roof.

Not everyone agrees. In Victoria, pickleball players are being banned from some tennis courts due to noise complaints.

“The noise is people having fun,” said McCann, president of the Victoria Regional Pickleball Association. “It's a good noise.”

She said she was shocked the city decided earlier this spring to prohibit pickleball from her James Bay neighbourhood, located near British Columbia's legislature, because some residents living near the courts complained about the noise.

The James Bay pickleballers were instead told they could play on courts in Central Park, in Victoria's downtown core. It was a response that highlighted the city's slow and inadequate accommodation of the sport's growing popularity, McCann said.

“A pickle-brawl,” said McCann, 70, laughing as she stood courtside while other players warmed up for a doubles match.

“It was definitely an abrupt change for pickleball players, and because there is such a great demand for courts, the closure of two courts was a significant blow,” she said. “It left over 100 players with nowhere to go in their neighbourhood.”

Pickleball dates back to the mid-1960s when several vacationing families in Washington state were looking to play new games on an outdoor badminton court.