Tennis And Pickleball Coming To Sydenham

Aug 26, 2020

Canada is thriving in tennis, and pickleball is booming in Canada - and both sports will be coming to Sydenham very soon with the brand new Sydenham Point Community Courts.
Located in Loughborough Memorial Park & Recreation Centre (or “The Point”) at 4410 Point Road, the courts will include one full-size tennis court and two adjacent pickleball courts, located where the historic Sydenham tennis court used to be.

The resurfacing is being done by Chris Smith CANADA COURT, a court construction company that has been servicing and installing tennis and other sport courts for more than 20 years. Work in Sydenham began in June and is expected to be complete within the next few weeks.

The courts are scheduled to be open to the public for late summer and into the fall.
“Pickleball is one of the fastest growing sports in Canada right now, and along with the resurgence in the popularity of tennis, resurfacing the courts is a priority in order to enhance the outdoor recreational experiences for South Frontenac residents,” said Tim Laprade, the Arena & Recreation Supervisor for the Township of South Frontenac, and the lead on the project.

“The courts will be levelled and resurfaced with high-quality finishing products that will increase safety and improve the overall user experience; they will also be colour-coded to distinguish between the tennis and pickleball courts. Coloured courts, as opposed to top-coating the dark asphalt, also helps to reduce the heat and the creation of ‘heat islands’, which can be harmful to air quality and the environment.

“This is an exciting time for court-sport players in South Frontenac, and we are eager to see the finished product.”

Tennis courts in Harrowsmith and Sunbury will also be resurfaced this summer, by Bourassa Sport Technologie Plus.

Canada has taken the tennis world by storm over the last decade, beginning with the likes of Eugenie Bouchard and Milos Raonic becoming the first Canadian players ever to reach Grand Slam singles finals, at Wimbledon in 2014 and 2016, respectively. In 2019, a 19-year-old Bianca Andreescu became the first Canadian ever to win a Grand Slam singles title at the US Open, and another pair of young Canucks - 21-year-old Denis Shapovalov and 19-year-old Felix Auger-Aliassime - are currently ranked in the men’s Top 20. Needless to say, the future of Canadian tennis is very, very bright.

Pickleball, a much newer sport that has only been around since the mid-1960s, is currently undergoing a boom in North America and around the world. It’s been spreading rapidly over the last decade throughout community centres, gym classes, YMCA facilities and retirement communities. In 2019, it was estimated that there were already up to 75,000 pickleball players in Canada. The Canadian National Pickleball Championships were actually held in nearby Kingston in 2019, and they were scheduled to be held there this year too until they were cancelled due to COVID-19.

Could the next tennis or pickleball star come from Sydenham?

Once the Sydenham Point Community Courts are open to the public, users are encouraged to adhere to public health guidelines and safety protocols related to COVID-19:
~ Practice proper hand hygiene before, during and after using the courts; hand sanitizer will be provided, but users are encouraged to bring their own.

~ Do not use any facilities if you are experiencing symptoms of COVID-19 or have been in contact with someone who has COVID-19.

~ Singles AND doubles net-court sport play is now permitted by the Township.

~ For doubles play, players must: maintain a physical distance of two metres from each other (unless they are from the same ‘social bubble’); avoid touching equipment other than your own; hand sanitize frequently; keep in constant communication with other players during the match to determine who will strike in order to reduce the chance of coming in close contact with each other; and keep play recreational and not competitive in nature in order to reduce the likelihood of intense play that might interfere with the controlled positioning of players.

~ Players should avoid pre- and post-match handshakes or fist/elbow bumps, stay on their respective sides of the court, use their own gear, and disinfect that gear before and after the match.

An official opening celebration for the Sydenham Point Community Courts was originally planned for this summer but has been postponed indefinitely due to COVID-19.