Across Canada, a battle for court time is intensifying between tennis and pickleball enthusiasts.
Last year in Scarborough, Ontario, the conversion of two tennis courts into six pickleball courts sparked controversy, leading to a petition against the decision.
In a more extreme case on Mayne Island, B.C., a legal clash over access to public courts reached the provincial Supreme Court.
According to Matti Siemiatycki, a geography and planning professor at the University of Toronto, these disputes mirror broader challenges in sports and recreation facility allocation.
Siemiatycki emphasized the need for more recreational facilities to address the shortage affecting various sports like tennis and hockey, as well as general park and pool spaces.
Experts advocate for a solution that does not rely solely on contentious community battles or privatization of sports facilities but rather focuses on enhancing the supply of public recreational amenities.
Connie McCann of Victoria’s regional pickleball association holds a paddle and ball in 2022. (Chad Hipolito/The Canadian Press)
To address this issue, Peter Donnelly, a retired University of Toronto professor and former director of the Centre for Sports Policy Studies, suggests enforcing stricter requirements on housing developers to include more recreational facilities in their projects.
Donnelly proposes a return to post-World War II public housing policies that integrated recreational spaces into residential developments to ensure equitable access to sports and leisure facilities.
Developers are urged to prioritize community well-being by enhancing the availability of recreational amenities alongside housing projects.