Selkirk Community Church is witnessing a pickleball takeover at the church’s gymnasium.
In the past year, the church has hosted two pickleball tournaments, and hundreds of people between 20 and over 80 years old have shown up to learn and compete in the sport.
Last month, the church hosted its second pickleball tournament, which had 134 teams in attendance.
On Wednesday, they held the men’s 3.0 and 3.5 tournaments, which are the different levels of the sport based on experience.
Thursday was the women’s 3.0 and 3.5 tournament, Friday was the mixed 3.0 and 3.5 tournament, and on the weekend, they wrapped up with another competitive tournament, which mostly featured younger adults who couldn’t participate during the week due to work.
“It’s beautiful to see,” said organizer Lisa Warkentine. “We got so many thanks from people who are thankful for this opportunity, so you feel really good providing something that people are enjoying and appreciating.”
Warkentine said they started holding tournaments at the church after seeing how many church members have started showing up during weekdays to play in friendly matches at the church’s open gym.
When they opened the gym four years ago, their goal was to provide people with an option to exercise and engage in some recreation.
Four years later, it’s been a much-welcomed surprise.
“We had no idea it was pickleball that was going to fill it,” said Warkentine. “We went into it with our hands open saying whatever the community and God puts in there is what we are going to work with. We thought the gym would be empty during the day because people work but as it turns out is in the daytime is when we are hopping with seniors playing.”
At last week’s tournament, 96 teams were crowned medalists in 18 different gender and age categories.
The church plans to keep hosting events in the future as it continues to gain more interest from church members and even people who don’t attend.
Warkentine said pickleball is a cheap way for people to get out and be active, as they only charge between three and four dollars to participate in open pickleball throughout the week.
At the gym, they ensure everyone gets onto a team if they come alone, allowing participants to make new friends easily.
“The beautiful thing about pickleball is we’ve had seniors say it saved their lives,” said Warkentine. It seems like an extreme statement, but a lot of seniors are struggling with isolation. Pickleball gives you exercise, you don’t have to be competitive, it puts you in a group socially, and you aren’t thinking of any stress.”
To sign up for future pickleball events or to see other programming at the church, you can visit https://selkirkcommunity.churchcenter.com/registrations
Selkirk Community Church is at 6569 Provincial Trunk Highway 9 in St. Andrews.
