By KEVIN BERGER, Local Journalism Initiative
A total of 85 players showed up this year for the City of Martensville’s annual pickleball tournament on Saturday, January 10 at the Martensville Athletic Pavilion (MAP).
According to organizer and program co-ordinator Jamie McCulloch, the total number of registrants in the 54-and-under and the 55-plus categories was up from last year by about 20 players.
Pickleball is one of the fastest-growing sports in North America, with Pickleball Canada estimating last year that 1.54 million people were playing the sport across the country based on a survey conducted in January 2025.
Given that the national group had estimated one million Canadians were playing pickleball based on a 2022 survey, that’s an increase in participation of about 57% over the course of three years.
In particular, Pickleball Canada says the largest increase in participation has been in the age 35-54 group.
The reasons why people get involved in pickleball vary. For instance, Cathy Hicks has been playing the sport for two years now, and she says she likes the social aspect of the sport.
“I like the competition too,” she said. “And the exercise. It keeps me active.”
Others have more involved answers, such as Wesley Nelson, who has been playing the sport off and on for seven years.
After playing with other associations, Nelson said he has started playing at the Topzpin club in Saskatoon. He gives high praise to the Filipino community there, adding that they were very welcoming to him despite not being Filipino himself.
“I was so impressed with that,” he said.
When asked what he enjoys about the sport, Nelson said he likes the socialization and competition to a point, but expresses a lot of enthusiasm about the more technical aspects of pickleball. He described how he especially likes making a clean shot down the line or lobbing the ball into the corners.
He said he also loves “doing shots that you don’t normally ever make,” such as an around-the-post (an advanced shot that curves around the boundary of the net) or the “erne,” an aggressive shot played from the air over the non-volley zone.
“My whole purpose is to perfect my craft in this wonderful sport,” he said.