The inaugural B.C. Pickleball Championships kicked off at the Vernon pickleball facility and the converted tennis courts at Marshall Field with men's and women's single matches Thursday, May 11 (photo by Liam Verster / Vernon Matters)

By Liam Verster

620 Pickleballers from Across B.C.

Vernon playing host to inaugural B.C. pickleball championships

May 11, 2023 | 2:00 PM

Hundreds of pickleballers of all ages and skill levels have converged on Vernon for a first time event.

The facility at Marshall Field, officially called the National Bank Financial Okanagan Wealth Advisors Pickleball Complex, is hosting the inaugural B.C. Pickleball Championships Thursday, May 11, through Sunday, May 14.

Tournament director Richard Chambers said the Vernon Pickleball Association is excited about hosting the tournament.

“It took a bit of courage and checking out whether we had the capacity to do this, and we think we did, and we’re so happy to have this great facility, the covered courts. And then in conjunction with the city and Tourism Vernon, we’ve been able to adapt the adjacent tennis courts into another 12 courts, so we’re running 24 courts,” Chambers told Vernon Matters.

“We’re blessed with great weather, so this is fantastic.”

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The event features roughly 620 players from across B.C., including a lot of local athletes.

“We probably have 15 per cent, 70 or so players, from Vernon playing,” Chambers said.

“Then the Okanagan itself is very strong in pickleball, it’s really the pickleball hot bed of B.C. So all the way from Oliver/Osoyoos over to Kamloop,s there’s lots of very good players in this corridor.”

The tournament features men and women playing in three categories: all ages, 55 plus and 65 plus. Within those categories, the players are broken down into groups depending on their skill levels.

There is the 3.0 skill level, which Chambers explained are players who were just starting to play competitively, followed by 3.5, 4.0, 4.5 and 5.0, the latter being the most skilled and competitive.

The game styles are single matches, first to 15 points and winning by two, which take approximately 25 minutes to complete.

Players in the inaugural B.C. Pckleball Championships on the converted tennis court at Marshall Field (photo by Liam Verster / Vernon Matters)

Players at the inaugural B.C. Pickleball Championships playing inside the covered facility in Vernon (photo by Liam Verster / Vernon Matters)

Spectators watching a match at the inaugural B.C. Pickleball Championships at the converted tennis courts at Marshall Field (photo by Liam Verster / Vernon Matters)

At the end of each day, the separate age groups and skill categories will have gold medal matchups. Those matches will be best-of-three first to 11 points, winning by two, and could take around an hour to complete.

The men’s and women’s single matchups go Thursday, the women’s doubles on Friday; the mixed-doubles; which Chambers said is the most entertaining, will be Saturday; and the men’s doubles games will go Sunday.

Play begins at 8 a.m. each day with the final games Thursday and Friday set to wrap up around 4 p.m., and play to finish Saturday and Sunday around 5 p.m.

Chambers noted the facility off Okanagan Landing Road was a big factor in securing the inaugural provincial tournament, and has also proved to be very popular with the players and visitors.

“People have been so excited, coming here from across the province from Haida Gwaii to Radium Hot Springs, from Fort St. John to Victoria, and people have been coming and taking pictures of our covered courts with envy,” Chambers told Vernon Matters.

“The visionaries in the Vernon Pickleball Group that caused this facility had a motto of ‘If we build it, they will come’ and having that is the only reason we have the B.C.’s here.”

Chambers also said there’s a professional pickleball league being created in Canada, and the facility in Vernon will play an important role.

“They’re having a draft and are running it in two cities in Canada, Ottawa and Vernon,” Chambers said

“Why? Because they built it, and they will come.”

Pickleball has been growing in popularity over the past several years, and Chambers attributed that growth to how accessible it can be in communities where courts are available.

“Pickleball, as I often say, has a funny name but is a fun game, and the reason it’s a fun game is it’s pretty easy to be successful and enjoy it if you’ve played any previous paddle or racquet sport.”

“So that’s sort of where you begin, but if you have a competitive streak to you and want to get into a tournament, what you quickly discover is there’s a long range of continuum of skill development, so having as many people as we do around the Okanagan playing in it shows that we’ve got those kinds of folk around here that want to get better.”

He added it’s a game that involves more technical play than just straight power, making it easy for men and women of all ages to play together in both competitive and recreational matches.

The games over the weekend are open to the public to come out and watch, though Chambers did say that parking could be difficult, especially with other park users out on the weekend, but added a professional parking company has been hired to help manage the lots.