It’s a sport that saw major growth during the pandemic and it has only continued to grow. More and more people in Nova Scotia are picking up pickleball, and they now have a new place to play. “As opposed to large multi-courts, it is a single court, so it has ultimate privacy and people can play with their friends, and they can rent it 24 hours a day,” said James Adams who owns Pickleball Cove in Mount Uniacke, N.S. He decided to open the private facility after noticing the demand firsthand. “I started playing pickleball with my dad a couple years ago, and we ran into a problem where there just was not enough courts, and anytime we tried to use an outdoor court, they were always either busy or we’d get rained out and it just wasn’t convenient,” said James. “As well, I have small children, and finding a nice, prime time slot was just often really, really hard.” Players can rent one-hour time slots 24 hours a day at Pickleball Cove. While it only opened about six weeks ago, James is already eyeing the future. “The hope is to open more locations. There are definitely lots of communities in and around the HRM (Halifax Regional Municipality) and even Nova Scotia, which actually don’t have any pickleball facilities,” he said. ‘It’s really growing’ A lack of places to play is a similar sentiment echoed by the Halifax Pickleball Club, which said there is only one outdoor court on the peninsula. “In my opinion, there should be 12 courts on the peninsula,” said Deborah McNamara, general manager of the volunteer-run club. “We’ve got 235 members of the pickleball club, and we only started in August, and about 550 members on our Facebook page, so there’s a lot of people looking to play and one court is not enough.” McNamara noted the sport is gaining popularity across the board. “Nova Scotia provincials this year, run by Pickleball Nova Scotia, had a youth category for the first time ever, so it’s really growing in the younger groups,” she said. “There are youth tournaments. It’s being taught in schools.” A recent survey by Pickleball Canada estimated there were 1.54 million participants in the country in 2025; a significant increase since 2022 when about one million Canadians played. The survey also showed there was an 85 per cent increase in participation among Gen Z and 27 per cent among Gen X. Pickleball is a sport someone can try at any age and any skill level. “On the first day you learn, you can pretty much carry a game, unlike some sports,” said McNamara. She hopes to see more outdoor courts open on the peninsula as demand remains high. For more Nova Scotia news, visit our dedicated provincial page
