Whistler Council Refers Pickleball Court Conversion Proposal to Staff

Pickleball Whistler landed a broadly supportive reception at Whistler's Feb. 24 council meeting, where councillors voted to receive the group's letter and refer its court conversion proposal to municipal staff for review.

The pitch calls on the Resort Municipality of Whistler to "consider upgrading a portion of under-utilized public tennis courts to permanent pickleball courts" to better serve both residents and visitors. The proposal identifies nine existing court locations across Whistler as candidates and recommends splitting them between tennis- and pickleball-specific use, with site selection shaped by noise considerations and geography.

The numbers behind the proposal are hard to argue with. A single tennis court can be converted into three to four pickleball courts, pushing player capacity from a maximum of four to as many as 16 at a time. Because the infrastructure already exists, Johnston argued the costs would be "pretty minimal [to] the taxpayer," framing the conversion as a low-barrier way to expand recreational options at existing facilities rather than building from scratch.

Several of Whistler's public courts are described in the proposal as an "under-utilized asset," a characterization that apparently carried weight with council. The next phase moves the concept into review by the Parks and Recreation team and the Procurement department, with staff responsible for determining how, or whether, the proposal advances within existing RMOW processes. No timeline for that review or a follow-up council report was provided.

If the conversions do move forward, Pickleball Whistler envisions activating the courts with drop-in play, leagues, and tournaments. The proposal also outlines "dedicated time allocations for local coaches and sport associations [and] tournament hosting capacity" as potential next steps, positioning the courts as a platform for structured community programming rather than just casual play.

O'Sullivan, whose remarks at the meeting were summarized as suggesting interested parties pick up a paddle, rounded out a council discussion that produced no reported dissenting voices. What staff conclude about cost estimates, which of the nine sites rank highest under the noise and geography criteria, and whether Procurement can accommodate the project within existing budget processes will determine whether Whistler's idle tennis courts become some of the most-used recreational surfaces in the resort municipality.