Throughout the summer, if you were over near the tennis courts at DVSS, many times you would see the court set up for pickleball.
There are also quite a number of people that enjoy drop in pickleball at the Badlands Community Facility. The sport has grown everywhere, including in the Drumheller Valley, which facilitated a need for a pickleball association. Wayne Powell is the president of the new Drumheller Pickleball Association. “We decided to formalize a club and we are going to make it a non-for-profit society. It gives us the ability to raise money if we want and gives us that formal structure so we can prepare the future for players here.”
The sport of pickleball is growing and growing. Powell and the organization is preparing for that growth locally. “The growth is coming. Since I arrived back in the valley, about three years ago, we’ve probably increased about 20 percent. It isn’t a huge growth, but we are seeing many more people asking about it. We’re seeing little groups that are playing by themselves and we’re thinking that we can provide this container where people can get more training, more coaching. It is really important because we are a really welcoming group.” Powell admits that they have players with many different levels of ability from beginners to advanced players, so there are many opportunities to play and to learn from more experienced players.
For those that haven’t played pickleball before, Powell notes that the learning curve is quite short, especially for those that have played some sort of racquet sports. As for the membership, currently there are over 30 active members. “We have approximately 50 and about 35 play very regular. We are 40 percent female, so it is truly a coed sport.”
If you are interested in being involved, you can email them at drumhellerpickleballclub@gmail.com. The also have a Facebook page. Currently, it is free to join the association to spur on growth of the sport in the Drumheller Valley.
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