The Yukon Pickleball Association (YPA) held a Yukon Pickleball Day Sunday at the Canada Games Centre.

Three sessions took place. The first session was an Educator’s clinic.

The second session was the “Challenge Court.” Yukon MLA Yvonne Clarke was one of the dignitaries who took part.

“That was my first time playing and and I really didn’t know what to expect ... it was really nice to learn something new and I really enjoyed it. It’s just so enjoyable and relaxing and you can be a bit competitive if you want, so I think I’m hooked. ” Clarke said enthusiastically.

Clarke said she’s in favour of funding for a pickleball facility.

“I think it is very very important ... I can see camaraderie, I can see everybody can play – old, young, youth ... and I think it is really important to have a place – you know the Canada Games Centre Flexihall – big court like that divided into three ... can you imagine the mental wellness? It’s really beneficial, no doubt about it. I want to play again, and it should be funded,” she added.

The third session was “See-It, Try-it”, which was open to anyone in the public who wanted to come out and try out the rapidly-growing sport, or just simply come out to observe the sport in action.

YPA President Jim Gilpin had these thoughts on the day.

“In general, the overall purpose is to introduce more people to the game ... and another objective particularly applied to this Challenge Court today, which was to get several people in various levels of government exposed to the game and hopefully to get them enthused and so, at some point, we hope to have single-purpose pickleball courts for outdoor activity ... and so we’ll be looking for support from various levels of government to make this happen.”