Paddle up, as former hobby goes pro

Players hope cash prizes can help sport grow bigger

- GILBERT NGABO

Back in 2020 when COVID-19 restrictions prevented large social gatherings, Christina Chin found herself longing for sports. She grew up playing hockey, but couldn’t play anywhere at the time.

So she picked up pickleball.

Relatively unknown then, Chin found the game easy to learn. It was also accessible. While at least 10 people are needed to play hockey and booking a rink and expensive equipment are just some of the sport’s obstacles, all she needed was a paddle, a ball and one other person to play pickleball, even on the streets.

“This game is just so easy to go out and play,” said Chin, who lives in Richmond Hill. “And it’s also not tiring.

The past three days I played 30 pickleball matches, but in hockey I can’t play more than six games in that span, and even then I’d be dead.”