Don't Get Burned In The Kitchen' - Pickleball Is Back

Jeff Green | Aug 11, 2021

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Headline – Pickleball ramping up after COVID

It’s hard to imagine Kelli McRobert in slowed down mode. But last week when interviewed over the phone she said she was having difficulty ramping back up to her pre-COVID multi-tasking lifestyle after a year and a half of limited activity due to COVID restrictions.

“It’s hard to get back to juggling so many balls,” she said.

Not that she has been idle. Kelli took up Pickleball 4 years ago, after spending the previous few years as an obstacle racer. Obstacle races are 5km runs on courses, often at ski hills during the summer, that are set up with barriers that racers need to climb over or crawl under. Optimal weather for the races would be very hot and sunny, following a heavy rain for maximum mud on the course.

McRobert, who works at the Royal Military College in Kingston and lives in Sunbury, for the time being, took on every obstacle course in Eastern Ontario and beyond. 

“When I was 46, I decided to do 50 races before I turned 50,” she said, “I ended up at 150, from Calabogie to Blue Mountain. It was fun but hard on the body in the end.”

Pickleball has replaced racing for her. Not only does she love to play, she loves to teach and to help establish clubs and facilities in her home township of South Frontenac, and in the greater Kingston area.

All of that slowed to halt when COVID hit. A few months in, when it was possible to form social bubbles, the versatility of Pickleball made it possible to start up again, in an informal way.

“We were not allowed any official activities, of course, and we did not want to take the risk either. But any family of four can paint lines on their driveway and get a portable net and start playing. With social bubbles, we were able to play outdoors, and we played like that all winter, wearing masks. As long as the weather was ok, we were good.”

With outdoor sports opening up, Kingston Pickleball, and the Frontenac Pickleball Club are back in full swing. The courts at Centennial Park in Harrowsmith are open Monday, Wednesday and Friday for outdoor play (see Frontenac Pickleball on Facebook for details) and Gerald Ball Park in Sunbury is one of the locations listed on the Kingston Pickleball website.

Although Kelli is involved with both clubs, and worked diligently with South Frontenac Township to develop the facilities in Sunbury, Battersea and Harrowsmith, her real passion is for teaching and bringing newcomers into the sport.

She has taught 56 people how to play so far, and counting.

“It doesn’t take long. A small group can take a two hour session with me, and perhaps another trainer, and they will know how to play. We work in levels, and it is easy to go from level 1 to level 2. The thing about Pickleball is that it is a lot of fun.”

She sometimes goes out with 3 people, with her being the 4th, so she can demonstrate. Wednesdays, from 9-11, at Gerald Ball Park are her normal teaching times. For information, call or text her at 613-545-5288 email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

In the coming weeks, Kelli is moving from Sunbury up to White Lake Road in Central Frontenac, bringing her passion for Pickleball with her. She has been talking with Tim Laprade of South Frontenac Township about the possibility of Pickleball at the Glendower Hall facility, on Westport Road in Bedford, and is keen to see what interest can be drummed up in Central Frontenac as well. Pickleball has already started to infiltrate Sharbot Lake, where a multi-use Park was established this past spring by the Central Frontenac Pickleball Association.

But Kelli is also looking forward, and for avid Pickleballers like herself (she plays at a competitive level), the optimal place to play is indoors because hot, cold, windy, rainy, and snowy weather all cut into the outdoor season.

“Last fall, we were able to play at the Frontenac Arena because it was closed to skaters for renovations, and the Harrowsmith Free Methodist Church gives us some time, but in the future a dedicated space would be great for the sport,” she said.

The future is uncertain, of course, and it is still unclear if indoor sports will be permitted this fall, but the infectious growth of Pickleball will continue in the coming years, with advocates like Kelli McRobert leading the way.