by JR MacLean

I spent some time in Holland this summer, in a small village called Velp, which is close to a small town called Grave, which is close to a small city called Nijmegen. The bridges at Grave and Nijmegen were key parts of Operation Market Garden during World War II, as can be seen in the movie ‘A Bridge too Far’. To say that pickleball is unknown in all those historic venues is likely a huge understatement. In fact, just uttering the word ‘pickleball’ unfailingly elicited giggles from my lovely, very Dutch, sister in law. “Pickleball, pickleball,” she’d say over and over, causing fresh spasms of laughter. My brother in law’s place where we stayed, looked out over farm fields of flowers. Just off the patio, where quantities of local and imported Belgian beverages were consumed, was a lovely grassy area that would be perfect for a pickleball court. Flat and beautiful and the nearest neighbour half a kilometre away. Year round play for sure. My best ‘Field of Dreams’ entreaties have, however, yet to yield any results beyond looks from by brother in law that said ‘why did my sister marry this wacky Canadian?”.

That’s okay. Give them time. Just as a road trip across Holland and down to Brugges, Belgium revealed no shortage of McDonalds, and Burger Kings and even Starbucks, so too will the game of pickleball eventually make inroads into the European heartlands. The growing sport there now is called Padel, which is somewhat like pickleball but requires courts that have walls. For this reason, though it may be as fun to play as pickleball, it is inherently more expensive. It is, in fact, considered something of an elitist sport, while pickleball, which can be easily set up in any gym or hard outdoor surface is far more accessible to the masses. With its appeal to all ages, it may be the most neighbourly game in the world. Exhaustive research (yes, I googled it) indicates pickleball is already available in larger centres like Amsterdam, Rome, and Paris. Europeans love the good life and they will soon learn to love pickleball. To my brother in law in Velp, Holland, I can only say: “If you build it, they will come.”

JR MacLean does home improvements in Peterborough. More thoughts on pickleball and other stuff can found at https://substack.com/@jrmaclean