Gatineau to host provincial pickleball tournament this April

Tashi Farmilo

More than 250 players from across Quebec are expected to descend on Gatineau on April 25 and 26 for a provincially sanctioned pickleball tournament organized by the Association régionale de pickleball de l'Outaouais (ARPO).

The event will be held across two venues: the Centre sportif de Gatineau (CSG) and the Centre communautaire Père-Arthur-Guertin (PAG), between them, offering 12 courts. "This year, more than 250 players are expected, coming from all regions of Quebec," said JoHanne Verrier, who coordinates the event for ARPO. "Last November, we had 312."

The tournament is one of two provincial events ARPO organizes annually, both sanctioned by Pickleball Canada and the Fédération québécoise de Pickleball, and part of Quebec's official competitive circuit. Verrier noted that keeping the event local matters: "Our provincial tournaments are self-financing, and that allows players from the region to take part in a provincial tournament right here at home."

Roughly three-quarters of participants will come from the Outaouais and Ottawa regions, with the remaining quarter travelling from elsewhere in the province, including Abitibi, Montérégie, and Estrie.

Competition will be organized into three categories: men's doubles, women's doubles, and mixed doubles, across four skill ratings (3.0, 3.5, 4.0, and 4.5) and three age brackets (open, 50-plus, and 60-plus). Play begins at 8:30 am at the CSG and 9 am at the PAG. Every registered team is guaranteed a minimum of three matches in a round-robin format. Top finishers in each pool advance to medal rounds, with morning-bracket finals scheduled around 11:30 - noon and afternoon-bracket finals around 4 pm.

Spectators are welcome. The CSG's second-floor gallery overlooks all 12 courts simultaneously and can seat more than 200 people, making it a reasonable afternoon outing even for those who have never watched the sport before.

For the uninitiated, pickleball is played on a court roughly a quarter the size of a tennis court, using a solid paddle and a perforated plastic ball. Doubles is the dominant format. Points are only scored by the serving side, and games are typically played to 11. The sport's low barrier to entry and social character have made it, by most measures, the fastest-growing sport in Canada. Quebec alone is estimated to have approximately 315,000 players, ranking it second among all provinces. Verrier sees the same momentum here. "Pickleball is a sport that is growing everywhere in Canada," she said. "Many sports centres are opening their doors in practically every city in the province."

ARPO is currently recruiting volunteers for the event. Applications are open until March 31 through a form on the organization's website at www.pickleballoutaouais.ca.