Courts vs. Kids: How the Pickleball Boom Is Rewriting BC’s Recreation Map
- Mike Upton
- Oct 14
- 6 min read
At North Shore Bike Park, we love seeing people of all ages get active. That includes pickleball — it’s social, low-impact, and keeps thousands of people moving. But when a new sport’s growth starts pushing out long-standing community spaces for kids and families, something is off balance.
That imbalance is exactly what’s happening across British Columbia — and we’ve lived it first-hand.
The Pickleball Explosion: A Story of Fast Growth and Strong Influence
Over the past five years, pickleball has gone from a fringe pastime to a cultural force. In B.C. alone, more than 20,000 registered members now play through Pickleball BC, with many more casual players bringing the real number closer to 200,000. That growth has driven a wave of new indoor facilities: converted Safeways, department stores, and even shopping malls, including the Fairgrounds Pickleball Hub in Capilano Mall, the very space that displaced North Shore Bike Park.
Municipalities across Greater Vancouver have also added over 100 indoor pickleball courts in community centres and gyms. Entire city departments now have “Pickleball Coordinators.” There are provincial and local pickleball associations with dedicated boards, advocacy groups, and direct channels to municipal decision-makers.
It’s impressive, but it’s also instructive.
The majority of pickleball’s player base in Canada remains middle-aged or older adults, "with households with higher income levels reflecting higher participation rates." according to Pickleball Canada earlier this year. Often retirees with time, disposable income, and influence. This demographic is politically active and well-represented on recreation committees and city councils. They organise, attend meetings, and know how to get projects approved. That’s not a criticism it’s a reality of civic engagement.
But while this older demographic gains traction and space, youth recreation, particularly cycling, BMX, and skateboarding, continues to lose ground.
A Tale of Two Age Groups: Representation vs. Participation
According to the CitySkate strategy, over 70% of skateboarders are under 18, and the average age of a skateboarder is just 14. BMX and scooter riders fit similar profiles. Together, they represent tens of thousands of kids and teens in Metro Vancouver. These aren’t hypothetical participants, they’re the same kids families see at the pump track, at the skatepark, and yes, in our bike park.
Despite that, there are fewer than five permanent indoor facilities in the entire Lower Mainland for skateboarding, BMX, or mountain biking combined. By contrast, there are now dozens of dedicated pickleball clubs, with more announced every few months.
And while pickleball’s inclusion in multi-use centres is celebrated, the youth-oriented sports that have been Olympic disciplines since Tokyo 2020, BMX Freestyle and Skateboarding, still struggle for recognition or funding.
That’s the imbalance: pickleball is played primarily by older adults but benefits from youth-level access to public land and funding; cycling and skateboarding are played primarily by youth but are left to fend for themselves.
When One Sport’s Gain Becomes Another’s Loss
The pattern repeats across the region:
West Vancouver’s Gleneagles Adventure Park, a popular bike and skate area, was slated to be replaced by pickleball courts until public outcry delayed the decision.
Capilano Mall, where North Shore Bike Park operated successfully for nearly two years, is now being converted into the Fairgrounds Pickleball Hub — 15 indoor courts replacing one of the Lower Mainland’s only large-scale youth recreation facilities.
Langley, Surrey, and Richmond are adding courts faster than any other form of recreation infrastructure, largely through conversion, not new builds.
Meanwhile, Vancouver’s own Park Board acknowledges the city has no municipal indoor skatepark, even after decades of requests from the youth community.
It’s not about one sport versus another. It’s about balance. And right now, the scales have tipped hard in one direction.
The Civic Power Gap
Pickleball’s senior-heavy demographic gives it a unique civic advantage:
Players are more likely to attend public hearings.
They form registered societies that lobby councils.
They have time to advocate during daytime hours.
Youth riders, in contrast, are in school, at work, or simply not accustomed to political processes. When a skatepark or bike facility is proposed for removal, few kids can show up to defend it.
This imbalance in representation has a predictable outcome: councils hear only one side of the story.
Pickleball advocates, understandably, frame their requests as meeting community demand — and they’re right. But what gets lost is that young people also have needs, and their facilities are fewer, older, and often underfunded.
Recreation planning should reflect the full spectrum of a community’s age range — not just those with time and influence to attend the meetings.
Why This Matters to Families and the Future of Recreation
Youth-focused recreation like cycling, scootering, and skateboarding teaches confidence, resilience, and independence. It builds coordination, self-esteem, and community. For many kids, these sports are the reason they’re outside and off screens.
At North Shore Bike Park, we’ve seen it firsthand from three-year-olds finding balance for the first time to teenagers discovering their passion for BMX, Skateboarding and Mountain Biking. These sports are inclusive, low-cost, and scalable. A bike or board can be a lifelong companion.
Yet the very spaces that make these experiences possible are vanishing, often under the banner of “modern recreation planning.”
The Mental-Health Link Is Proven
Studies consistently show that when kids have reliable access to structured physical activity, their mood, confidence, and resilience improve dramatically.
The Canadian Paediatric Society identifies consistent physical activity as one of the strongest protective factors against anxiety and depression in young people — but notes that “accessibility and environment” are key barriers in winter months (CPS, Healthy Active Living for Children and Youth, 2023).
Research from the University of British Columbia’s School of Kinesiology found that adolescents participating in skill-based indoor activities, such as cycling, skateboarding, or climbing, reported better emotional regulation and social confidence than peers limited to sedentary recreation (UBC, 2022).
A 2023 review in the Journal of Adolescent Health concluded that structured, indoor physical outlets help youth “maintain continuity of routine and peer support during seasons of environmental restriction,” directly correlating with reduced depressive symptoms.
In other words: movement isn’t just fitness — it’s mental stability. And when weather cuts kids off from movement, we shouldn’t be surprised when their well-being suffers. Youth mental health has become one of the most urgent public-health challenges in Canada. Yet, every year, dozens of cities pour resources into adult recreation while youth facilities are left seasonal, outdoor, or underfunded.
If we’re serious about addressing youth mental health, then building and protecting indoor, year-round recreation spaces isn’t a luxury — it’s prevention.
The Social Connection They Can’t Get Online
Cycling, skateboarding, and scooter riding are not just sports, they’re communities. Inside facilities like ours, kids learn patience, persistence, and social awareness in ways that digital life can’t replicate.
They fail, try again, and celebrate each other’s progress. That process of shared risk and reward builds resilience and confidence.
Indoor spaces give those communities a home year-round, a place where friendships continue through the dark months instead of fading until spring.
A Balanced Vision for the Future
We want to be clear: North Shore Bike Park supports pickleball. It’s good for people, good for communities, and good for the local economy. The issue isn’t pickleball’s success, it’s the zero-sum way that success is being pursued.
Cities don’t need to take away youth recreation to provide for adults. We can — and must — do both.
That means:
Protecting existing bike and skate facilities from conversion.
Prioritising multi-use spaces that encourage coexistence, not replacement.
Allocating new land for senior-oriented sports, rather than repurposing youth facilities.
Including youth voices in every recreation planning process.
BMX Racing, BMX Freestyle and Skateboarding are Olympic Sports. Training facilities though are in very short supply. Photo of Skateboarder:Mark Blinch, BMXer: Leah Hennel/COC
Closing: Support Balance, Support Youth.
The explosion of pickleball is a reminder of what can happen when people advocate passionately for the activities they love. We admire that energy, we just ask that it not come at the expense of kids, families, and the next generation of riders.
At North Shore Bike Park, we’re committed to being part of a balanced future where pickleball and pedal power can coexist , each with space to thrive.
If you believe in that vision: Share this message. Tell your local councillors that family recreation matters. Support our move to Maple Ridge.
Because when recreation becomes a fight for space, it’s the kids who lose first, and that’s not a legacy any community should accept.
Mike Upton
Founder of North Shore Bike Park
Sources: Canadian Paediatric Society (2023); University of British Columbia, School of Kinesiology (2022); Journal of Adolescent Health (2023); Government of Canada, Canadian Youth Mental Health Report (2024); CitySkate 2022 Report – Vancouver Park Board;
