Pickleballers are calling for a dedicated pickleball stadium following the sport’s “exponential growth” in the Bay of Plenty.

Player numbers in New Zealand have doubled every year in the past five years.

The Mount Pickleball Club has more than 450 members and it has struggled to find a venue that caters to its large numbers.

Club members formed the Bay of Plenty Pickleball Stadium Trust and spent nine months coming up with concept plans for a new stadium in Tauranga, which it believed could be built at Blake Park.

Trust chairman Philip Brown said the Mount Pickleball Club got up to 100 players per session.

But only 56 players could play at one time on the maximum 14 courts available at current venues.

It needed a facility with 12 or 14 courts available 16 hours a day, seven days a week.

Brown said players were sitting out every other game.

“There’s no venue that can really accommodate large numbers, and there’s no venue that really wants to accommodate pickleball. It’s just impossible to organise.

“We have to get into the council facilities like Baypark and the Haumaru Sports and Recreation Centre, where you share with a lot of other sports.”

Pickleballers got “a couple of hours here and there”, but Brown said the players needed a dedicated stadium.

The sport was growing in popularity in Tauranga and around the world because of its widespread appeal, Brown said.

“It’s a sport anyone can play. If you can hold a racket, you can play pickleball because, unlike tennis, there is no serve to learn.

“Everything’s underarm so that you can play at different stages of life, different levels of competency, and you can have a great game.”

Bob Smith and Warick Floyd during a match at the Mount Pickleball Classic on September 12 at Mercury Baypark. Photo / Bijou Johnson.

Brown said pickleball was more of a social game compared to tennis, which was “a bit more aggressive and a bit more impact”.

“You can actually talk to each other across the net. There’s a lot of sledging, lots of comments.

“Pickleball doesn’t have any impact on your body, so you don’t get those stress injuries you get out of tennis.”

Brown said finding land for a stadium was the trust’s “first problem” to solve before a stadium could be built.

The trust was hoping it could work with Tauranga City Council to find a suitable location, preferably at Blake Park, as the council was already working to develop the park as a field sports hub for community and high-performance sport, with a secondary focus on events.

Brown said the trust had asked the council to buy land on its behalf, which the trust would buy back “over the next five to six years”.

The council told the NZME it had not explored any funding options for a pickleball stadium.

Bay of Plenty Pickleball Stadium Trust's proposed arrangement within the Tauranga City Council's master plan for Blake Park. Photo / Supplied

The council’s master plan for Blake Park included a new car park on the corner of Hull Rd and Maunganui Rd.

The trust had proposed using the airspace above the car park for a pickleball stadium, Brown said.

It would complement the existing tennis, cricket and rugby clubs as a “combined social hub”, Brown said.

“We’re really keen on establishing a centre of excellence. Why not become the pickleball centre of excellence for the North Island, where all the tournaments are played?

“It brings a little bit of money into the economy, but raises the profile of Tauranga as well.”

Bay of Plenty Pickleball Stadium Trust's proposed arrangement within the Tauranga City Council's master plan for Blake Park. Photo / Supplied

A pickleball tournament could attract up to 300 entrants, Brown said, with three-quarters of those numbers travelling from out of town and bringing family.

He said the demographics were changing as well.

Pickleball used to be “an old people’s sport”, but the Mount Pickleball Club has had club champions as young as 14.

“The young people are picking up on it. But at the moment, we can’t cater for working people because we don’t have any court space available for them to come and play at night.”

Brown said the facility would not be cheap, but he had ideas on where to find the funds.

“Pickleball finds a third of the cost, council covers another third, and government provides the final third.”

Tauranga City Council head of spaces and places Alison Law said the council had not explored any funding options yet.

“Projects like this need to go through a business case process, which would involve an independent assessment of need, feasibility, and the investment and operating model. We’re keen to work with the trust to help guide that along,” Law said.

“Pickleball is growing, and we’re exploring how we can support that.”

She said there was potential to add more racquet sport capacity at Blake Park.

“We need to factor in the proximity of the Mount Tennis Club and the upcoming relocation of the Netball Centre. As well as this, there’s an opportunity to look at the uses and configuration of facilities at the Eastern end of Blake Park, in the context of the next phase of the Blake Park Masterplan.”

Bijou Johnson is a multimedia journalist based in the Bay of Plenty. A passionate writer and reader, she grew up in Tauranga and developed a love for journalism while exploring various disciplines at university. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Classical Studies from Massey University.