Members of the Arrowsmith Tennis Club (ATC) were surprised to find someone drew pickleball lines, using chalk, on one of the tennis courts in Qualicum Beach.
They also discovered on Aug. 23 that the tennis net, which they said is "not cheap to replace", was tampered with in an attempt to force the net down to the height for pickleball play.
Former ATC president Greg Bach called it an "act of vandalism", noting one of the three tennis courts in Qualicum Beach currently has pickleball lines painted on it and people could have used that court.
Some members of the ATC scrubbed the courts and removed the lines. The next day, the ATC members discovered more lines were drawn on the courts.
"It appears that the lines are being put in as a provocative act against the decision by Qualicum Beach council not to install permanent lines on two of the tennis courts," said Bach. "Unfortunately, they are creating the same tension and potential conflicts as would permanent lines."
Many of the ATC members, according to Bach, are also avid pickleball players and they pointed out that "unauthorized actions such as this does nothing to enhance the relationship between the two sports." They maintain pickleball and tennis are sports that require different courts an players of both sports should "be modelling that relationship between Tennis BC and Pickleball BC where they work together to support the needs of each."
Luke Sales, director of planning for the Town of Qualicum Beach said the town is working with the society to establish new pickleball courts and has identified a location within the community park.
"We would discourage anyone from marking up town property to establish pickleball courts on the existing tennis courts that's only going to result in conflict between the user groups," Sales said. "The town is looking to find solutions for all the user groups in the town but sometimes it involves compromises, but we are confident that a long-term solution is a new pickleball court in the community park."
