How much more can the sport of pickleball grow in Kamloops?

34 year-old Kamloops resident Chris Ross has a 5.0 pickleball player rating and competes in tournaments across the country. He thinks there’s room to run, provided Kamloops can keep up with courts and facilities.

Ross says he started playing the sport casually in 2017 and that it was a slow build to where he is now.

“I don’t think I love loved it at first, but after a little bit of time I really, really started to enjoy it and it pretty much became an obsession for me,” stated Ross in an interview with Radio NL’s Jon Keen.

“Like if you’ve never played golf before it’s really hard to get better quickly.  It wasn’t a big jump to play (pickleball) and be like hey I’m not terrible at this.  Once I started playing tournaments the following year, the competition just became addictive.”

Ross is a member of the growing Kamloops Pickleball Club at over 500 members. They just held their annual open tournament a couple weeks ago.  He says the growth of the sport has outpaced courts in Kamloops.

“I think it’s going to keep growing, I don’t think it’s a fad.  It’s too easy, too accessible for people and it’s simply too much fun,” Ross said enthusiastically.

He’d like to see an indoor facility for the winter months too, stating Vernon is operating one with success.

“If potentially the land is subsidized by the City, the Club is also able to raise funds to build a facility. The land plus the facility is too much for the Club alone.”

Pickleball has seen a 57% rise in players in Canada over the past three years according to a recent survey by Pickleball Canada.