Join the Revolution – Winnipeg Free Press

Manitoba's sauce revolution is heating up.

Two new dedicated indoor courts – one in Winnipeg and one near Selkirk – have created new spaces for pickleball players of all ages to hone their game.

The growth of the sport locally has limited the ability of indoor facilities to meet demand during the winter months.

That demand gave Ryan Giesbrecht and Justin Friesen, co-owners of Prairie Badminton in Winnipeg, the idea to expand their business.

Now, after a year of planning and an investment of more than $200,000, the duo has added two pickleball courts to their successful nine-court badminton operation located in Transcona.

The new courts will be tentatively opened for business on Sunday.

“Five years ago, it wasn't on my radar, and I didn't think pickleball was in my future,” says Giesbrecht, a professional badminton coach who has partnered with Friesen at Prairie Badminton since the summer of 2019.

“But I've been playing it ever since and it's very popular. And I liked sports. I think it's a great sport… very affordable. It gets a lot of people active and it's fun.”

Friesen and Giesbrecht are happy to ease the overwhelming demand. Their courts, called Pickle Haüs, are open from Monday to Saturday from 9am to 11pm and on Sundays from 9am to 9pm.

“It's only two courts, but the fact that we're opening more hours will significantly increase the number of courts per hour available in Winnipeg,” says Friesen.

In Winnipeg, the Dakota Fieldhouse and a number of other gyms currently have indoor pickleball courts adapted for reservation.

The city also has three locations with dedicated outdoor pickleball courts: three at La Fleche Park, eight in West Winnipeg and four more courts at Jill Officer Park. The tennis courts that pickleball players often adapt to use do not have adjustable pickleball lines or nets.

Located six kilometers southwest of Selkirk on Hwy. 9, the pickleball game has another unique twist.

Members of Selkirk Community Church put in about 35 hours a week on the four courts in the spacious gymnasium, and recently converted a mezzanine area once used for storage into a dedicated pickleball court.

Built in 2020 on 30 acres, the church has plenty of room to expand to accommodate future growth in demand for court time.

“There's been a lot of growth in the last year, especially,” says Lisa Workentin, church building coordinator. “We've been on the rise slowly, and then all of a sudden last year, I don't know what happened. A lot of new people came who had never played pickleball before, so it doubled.

“This should be our dead time, we should have squeezed everything in because all the snowbirds have gone south, right? For some reason, we continued all our groups. When the snowbirds come back in May, they'll go crazy.”

Lisa's husband, Gary Warkentin, admits he expected volleyball and basketball rentals to take up most of his gym time. Fortunately, they heeded the advice to paint pickleball lines on the gym floor during construction.

“What makes us unique here is that we need the pickleball community to pay the mortgage,” he says. “It's not the other way around. They don't bother us. We need them.'

Pickleballers can reserve a 2 1/2-hour court for $4 per person, a bargain even compared to rates at community centers in Winnipeg. Rec groups pay $3.50 per session on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Private rental of the entire gym is available for $35 per hour.

“The reason we pay something is because when we started this building, we were a small congregation – 50 people – and we built this big thing,” says Lisa. “We have no way of paying for it.

“So we took a big leap of faith and we said the only way this is going to work is if we partner with the community. We're not going to be a business and we're not going to charge them retail rates like we do in the city.”

He took up the game himself, but was initially surprised by the game's appeal.

“It depends on how much physical activity you need,” says Lisa. “But it gives you a social setting so you develop friendships and that's important too. Plus, when you're playing pickleball for those two hours, you're not thinking about your stressors. You only have a short break.'

At Transcona's Pickle Haüs, the growing market is a younger demographic, although since the game's invention, pickleball has largely been driven by demand from seniors.

“A lot of the people here are people around our age,” says Friesen, 36. “In the evening and on weekends, there are many young people aged 30-50. They still had jobs and couldn't even play sports because it was simply not available.

“So it's going to grow, but initially it's going to start with people wanting to play there and with their friends.”

Pickle Haüs costs include a $30 annual membership fee. Rates are $30 per hour on evenings and weekends for up to six people using the court. The weekday rate is $25 per hour.

Friesen and Giesbrecht don't rule out the possibility of expanding the indoor pickleball operation at some point, and Selkirk Community Church organizers Lisa and Gary Warkentins and their colleague Vern Irwin have already completed feasibility studies for indoor and outdoor courts.

“We got the cost of it, but with the money you spend on outdoor activities, it's better to put it indoors because we're seasonal here,” says Irwin. “We're not Florida. It's still wet – there's rain and wind.”

The Selkirk facility attracts players from as far away as Saskatoon, and it regularly attracts fans from the Morden area.

“We don't know what the limits are,” says Gary. “We don't know what the unmet demand is. So, for all these objects that we talk about expanding, there can be room for all of them.”

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