By Christina Lépine – Staff Writer

This semester, the tennis club co-leads, Rosane Delorme and Hugh Englehart, introduced a new sport to students: pickleball. On Mondays, from 8 to 10 p.m., students can play Pickleball in Denver Gym. Pickleball nights are open to anyone who desires to learn how to play this sport, as well as advanced players.

             Pickleball, over the past year, has been on the rise, becoming more popular in Canada and the United States. It is a lower-impact sport, compared to tennis, easy-to-grab and semi-portable as it requires minimal equipment to play. Nets, smaller and lower on the court than tennis nets, are often portable so can be set up on any court following a set of lines. This makes it easy for anyone coming to pickleball nights to set nets around Denver gym creating multiple courts for people to play. This sport can be played in single or double, similar to tennis, with a pickleball paddle or racket and a plastic ball. The Sports Complex offers this equipment for free when presented with a student ID at the front desk, making it accessible for all students to play.

             Delorme mentions she and her co-lead had the idea to launch this initiative to diversify the offerings of their club as she started playing pickleball two summers ago and fell in love with the sport. She mentions “Pickleball is a social sport, allowing university students to take a break from their studying to be active and socialize”. The club has noticed an impressive turnout to their Monday events as Denver Gym was packed with students wanting to learn how to play and meet people. The club co-leads are “very content with the turnout of their event. The courts are always full, and people are enjoying themselves and socializing with friends all while breaking a sweat”. Englehart and Delorme have received positive feedback from beginners who have enjoyed trying this new sport and advanced players, thankful for this opportunity to play.

             In upcoming semesters, the club is hoping to add another night of indoor pickleball to their schedule. The co-leads are hoping to offer a mini-pickleball tournament this year. They have also applied for funding through the Gaiter Grants Committee, managed by the Students Representative Council for their clubs, to acquire rackets and portable nets to offer new locations to play, either indoors or outdoors, in upcoming semesters.        

Should you want more information on Pickleball Mondays or to join in on this sport, consult the club’s Instagram account for updates on their scheduled activities offered every week.