A totally free-to-join giant pickleball club is opening in a mall in Toronto

Toronto pickleball clubs seem to be popping up in droves lately, and with the city's latest announcement, the trend doesn't seem to be slowing down.

Fairgrounds, the city's newest racquet club, is landing in Etobicoke's Cloverdale Mall this month, with another location opening soon at Assembly Park in Vaughan, and it just happens to be the home of pickleball.

The new club will open as part of the redevelopment of Cloverdale Mall by QuadReal Property Group, which plans to transform the city's oldest mall into a futuristic new community.

The Cloverdale Club will have nine pickleball courts open to the public of all ages with free membership.

“The whole idea is to make pickleball (…) accessible to more people and keep the growing demand across the country,” says Fairgrounds founder Drummond Munro.

The club experience doesn't end when the game ends. It will also be home to a restaurant and bar where you can eliminate competition for drinks and food.

In addition to pickleball, the club also has a padel court, so you can try your hand at other racquet sports that are quickly becoming popular around the world.

Padel, in case you've never heard of it (and we haven't), is a combination of tennis and squash that uses a tennis scoring system on a smaller, indoor court where the ball bounces off the walls.

While an official opening date for the club in Vaughan has not been confirmed, the Fairgrounds venue at Cloverdale Shopping Center will officially open on February 16, with more locations planned to open in 2024.