The Yukon Pickleball Association (YPA) is hosting another Pickleball Day at the Canada Games Centre (CGC) this year. The day will take place on May 7 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the Flexihall.

The Star spoke to YPA director Brenda Dion Wednesday.

“We did Yukon Pickleball Day last year. That was the first time and we tried to introduce the sport to as many more people as we could. And we had three sessions that day and ended up providing instruction to over 60 people, which was, in our minds a really big success. So we decided with the CGC we would do it again this year. And it’s a really great opportunity for Yukon Pickleball Association to partner with the CGC because we work together all year round providing instruction courses for them for the public.”

Dion explained what pickleball is all about.

“It’s a combination of tennis, played on a badminton sized court. And it’s kind of like ping pong too. So the net’s lower and it’s played with a a paddle kind of like a ping pong paddle and with a wiffle ball. It’s less area to cover than a tennis court. Professionally, people play singles, and for a real high-intensity exercise. They might play singles, but mostly we all play doubles. And it’s just fun.”

Dion explained how the day will work this year.

“So this year, we have four sessions, and the idea was to target a few specific groups. We’re going to do a family See it, Try it event this year. So it’s two hours. We’re asking families to sign up in a pair, so one adult, one youth and we’ll give them an intro to the game and then followed by some really fun round- robin games.”

The Family Clinic takes place from 9-11 a.m.

“We’re also offering an educators clinic again, just eight spots. And that clinic is for people like teachers, educational assistants, maybe rec coordinators, coaches, anyone who works with groups of people who want to learn a bit about the game and then maybe introduce it to their group.

“We have eight certified instructors in the Yukon and we cannot keep up with the demand for introduction to the game. So we think that maybe if we provide some educators with some introduction, they can then take it to their groups and pass that on.”

The Educator’s Clinic takes place from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.

“We’re also offering a Youth See it, Try it. This age group is for youth 13 and up. It’s really an age group that’s kind of exploding down south in learning the sport, and we haven’t had a chance to target this group yet. So we’re inviting them to come and get an introduction to the game.”

The Youth See it, Try it also takes place from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.

“And then our final group is the Corporate Challenge this year. We want to look at folks who maybe are working so haven’t had a chance to come and see the game being played. We’re asking them to sign up in teams of two. We’ll give you an intro to the game and then we’ll play some games with each other over a course of a two hour time frame.”

The Corporate Challenge takes place from 2 to 4 p.m.

She said the purpose of Pickleball Day is “really to introduce the game, maybe to people who don’t know about the game yet. Lots of people have heard (about it). ‘Oh, pickleball, what’s that about? I’ve heard about it, but I haven’t seen it.’ So let’s come on out and give it a go.”

“It’s just a game that’s so inclusive. It’s so social. It’s so fun. They say it’s taking over North America.”

Dion pointed out that former tennis icons John McEnroe and Andre Agassi took part in a celebrity pickleball event, the Pickleball Slam, on ESPN recently.

There is space for a maximum of 24 people, 12 teams of two, in the family and corporate events.

The youth clinic has 16 spaces and the educator clinic has eight spaces.

“There’s not big numbers. We don’t have a lot of room,” explained Dion. “But we’re expecting it to be full.”

The family clinic is for kids ten and up. The youth clinic is for youth 14 and up.

“We’re actually going to be involved with a summer camp with kids under 10 this year, so we’ll get those kids involved then,” related Dion.

There is no entry fee. CGC provides the facility and the Yukon Pickleball Association provides the instructors and some of the equipment, all free of charge.

“We wanted to be open to everybody, anybody who wants to come and take a specific session. We want them to come,” said Dion.

Dion said pickleball is really growing in the Yukon.

“We’re only limited by our facilities. Our schools are asking us for clinics and we just can’t keep up with the demand. Same thing with communities. We’re trying to get out to as many communities as we can, but we just can’t keep up with it. It’s a big phenomena that’s happening and they don’t see it slowing down anytime soon.

“It’s also becoming very big in the states around sport tourism. So people are going on vacations to play pickleball, including many Yukoners. My husband and I, we’ve traveled to Croatia, we’ve traveled to Costa Rica, Mexico, all to play pickleball.

“I certainly see that if we had the facilities here that Yukon could certainly support sport tourism here for pickleball because people want to come here anyway. So pickleball would just be another draw.”

Regarding new facilites, Dion said there is “nothing firmed up. The Yukon Pickleball Association has been seeking some support for that land, etc. But we’re in the very beginning stages of it.”

“There’s some folks working on a multi-racquet sport facility. So there’s lots of things in the works, but nothing confirmed, nothing established.”

Dion added CGC offers pickleball drop-in play every day of the week, sometimes three times a day. And sessions are basically always full.

“So it’s a big deal.”

For more info or to register, you can contact Dion by email at brendadion1@gmail.com or 336-3466.