Blue Zone Courts, Canada’s largest indoor pickleball and padel club, held a grand opening ceremony today (Nov. 6) to celebrate bringing a new facility to Burlington and meeting the demands of local pickleball players.
“Today is not just a celebration of opening a facility,” Joyce Telmo-Kanti, co-founder of Blue Zone Courts, said. “Today is the gathering of a community that shares a love for pickleball and padel, and we would like to extend our heartfelt thank yous to all of you for being here and sharing this moment with us.”
The new facility has 10 modern courts for pickleball and padel, and offers both walk-in bookings and memberships to ensure that anyone who wants to take part can play.
Pickleball and padel are some of the fastest growing sports in the world and are accessible for players of all ages, and Burlington residents have long been looking for a place to play. Mayor Marianne Meed Ward and Ward 5 councillor Paul Sharman, who have both played racquet sports in the past, spoke at the opening event.
“Paul and I hear a lot of feedback from residents,” Meed Ward said. “The top three things we hear about are development, traffic and pickleball. People are constantly asking us when we could give them more pickleball courts, some folks would turn empty parking lots into pickleball courts or see an unused tennis court and turn it into pickleball and using every minute of time.”
Blue Zone Courts opened their doors to Burlington in mid-October, and nearly every court in the building was in use before the ceremony kicked off.
Sharman, who played squash for 30 years, was quick to take to one of the courts to try his hand at padel.
“To be able to hold a racquet again is fabulous,” Sharman said. “I’m delighted to be here. It’s an amazingly converted, wonderful facility, and I think about this as being an opportunity for a contribution to Ward 5 as well as to the city.”
Blue Zone Courts was named after the blue zone phenomenon, which are places in the world where people tend to be healthier and live longer than average, as pickleball in particular has a variety of health benefits, from weight loss and balance to cardiovascular health. Meed Ward, who had just returned from a trip to Burlington’s sister city, Itabashi, in Japan, spoke on how she wants to see the city emulate the health of Itabashi residents.
“They’re one of those blue cities,” Meed Ward said. “They’re physically active, they have sports and outdoor community centres. When I think about what our quality of life here in Burlington needs to be, we have to focus on more than just potholes and garbage pickups. It’s also about community health and wellbeing.”
The celebrations are scheduled to continue into tonight as Gianni Luminati, lead singer of Burlington band Walk Off The Earth, will visit the facility to try his hand at pickleball against some of Canada’s professional players.