Nova Scotia provincial pickleball tournament underway

Pickleball players are pictured in Bedford, N.S. (CTV Atlantic/Hafsa Arif)

The 7th annual three-day pickleball tournament began Friday at the Atlantic Tennis Centre in Bedford, N.S.

Hundreds of players between the ages of 19 and 80 from across Nova Scotia will be competing this weekend.

Marita Winaut, tournament director of the Pickleball Nova Scotia provincial tournament, said this year’s tournament is seeing the largest number of competitors since the event began in 2016.

“Our first provincial tournament we probably had 100 people,” Winaut said.

“We’re well over 400 people this weekend and many are new names that I’ve never seen compete in previous tournaments.”

While the sport continues to grow, Winaut said she believes that when more pickleball facilities are built in the province the sport will explode.

“We have not even tapped into youth pickleball yet. That’s going to explode the pickleball community,” she said.

First-time competitor Eva Mooers is taking a chance on trying ladies doubles this weekend.

After what she describes as a lifetime of playing badminton, Mooers made the switch to the sport two years ago. Mooers said she expects that pickleball is a sport she’ll continue to play for a long time.

“It’s about a life-long journey with a sport. It doesn’t feel like there’s a whole lot of [sports] where you can do that, and this is totally one of them,” she said.

Another pickleball competitor, Jill Barkhouse, travelled from the valley to compete in the ladies singles game.

Over the last seven years, Barkhouse has been competing at provincial, regional and national tournaments.

“It’s a very inclusive sport so you can enter a tournament at different levels,” she said.

Barkhouse and her family frequently play pickleball together.

“It’s such a friendly, welcoming sport that when we were invited to play in our first tournament we took the opportunity,” she said.

After this weekend’s tournament wraps up, there will be an Atlantic championship tournament happening June 25 to 28 in Bedford. 

For more Nova Scotia news visit our dedicated provincial page.