A roller derby league says a pickleball expansion at the Archie Browning Sports Centre is pushing its practices to evening slots that are too late for its younger members.
Esquimalt council unanimously agreed this week for staff to purchase about $60,000 worth of pickleball infrastructure ahead of the township’s annual budget approval in May.
Four portable pickleball courts are to be installed on the curling rink dry floor at Archie Browning, a space that the township says has been historically underutilized during the curling off-season.
The township is proposing up to 12 hours a day of pickleball programming, seven days a week.
Connie McCann, president of the Victoria Regional Pickleball Association, said she welcomes the addition of four new pickleball courts in Esquimalt. Close to 70 per cent of the association’s 670 members live within five or six kilometres of Esquimalt, which has no dedicated outdoor courts, she said. “Our numbers are very large. Our demand for space is huge.”
“Families and youth are starting to join the sport and now it’s just going into the stratosphere,” McCann said.
But the rise of pickleball is disrupting the Eves of Destruction, the capital region’s roller derby league, which is also based out of Archie Browning.
Skye Dumond, the league’s vice-president, said the changes came as a shock for the league. “We’ve had a 15-year relationship with the same time, the same schedules and we’ve built a program that works really well with what was available.”
Dumond said the derby league was informed that it would be moved to the hockey rink to make way for pickleball in November and was only told of the scheduling changes in late December.
The league is still receiving 12 hours of practice time, but most of those hours are much later in the evening, which is unsuitable for its junior team, she said.
The altered practice times mean the players are at risk of losing their competitive edge, she said. “We’re actually ranked fairly well for being a small community like Victoria.”
The junior team has six members who also play on the provincial team. One player, Naomi “Scream Soda” Morrell, co-captained for Team Canada in the Junior Roller Derby World Cup last July.
Junior team coach Kiana McKinstry said parents are already saying they can’t make the latest practice times that were given to the league last week. “The times that they’ve been changing us to just seem to be worse and worse.”
“One of the biggest concerns when this first happened was if all of our practices are late or on days that don’t work for families,” McKinstry said. “We definitely do not want to lose skaters.”
Dumond said that the Eves of Destruction have looked at 40 other facilities for a suitable indoor space in past years. “We need a space that is 20 metres by 30 metres and a smooth floor.”
But many facilities with wooden floors have been hesitant about hosting the full-contact sport on rollerskates out of fear of scuffed floors and skid marks, she said.
The league has also considered splitting the junior practices away from adults as a last resort, she said. “Our culture is very inclusive and the juniors are a big part of that,” she said. “Taking them away from their [derby] family is a damage to the sport overall.”
Esquimalt did not make anyone from its parks and recreation department available for an interview Tuesday.
But in a statement, spokesperson Tara Zajac said that staff will continue to work with the Eves of Destruction on alternatives. “The quality program they offer in our community is important and valued, as is their history with the Township.”
The Eves of Destruction and Esquimalt both say they have a positive working relationship.
Coun. Jacob Helliwell, who sits on Esquimalt’s environment, parks and recreation committee, told council on Monday that the early budget approval was sought so that equipment orders could be made in advance of the summer playing season.
A staff report says pickleball is in high demand and user fees for the new facilities should allow the township to recoup its investment and turn a $45,000 profit by the second year.
“It’s always nice that you can pay back your investment in two years. That’s pretty rare in the municipal world,” Helliwell said.
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