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VRPA’s Roger Graves joins CKNW to discuss North Saanich pickleball court closures

November 3, 2025

November 4, 2025 (Victoria, BC) – North Saanich’s Wain Park pickleball courts are back in the news. Victoria Regional Pickleball Association (VRPA) president Roger Graves joined CKNW 730’s Jill Bennett on November 3’s Jill Bennett Show to provide an update about state of the courts, which have been closed since May of 2024.

Graves’ interview comes on the heels of a pair of articles covering last week’s North Saanich council meeting, where Councillor Sanjiv Shrivastava put forth a motion to remove the courts’ surface and fencing.

AUDIO LINK / TIMES COLONIST ARTICLE / PENINSULA NEWS REVIEW ARTICLE

“The most important thing, the most recent thing, is that a couple of months ago, the Capital Regional District Panorama Recreation Committee completed a large, one- to two-year study of recreational facilities in the North Peninsula area,” began Graves. “They conducted about a thousand interviews — 700 online, 300 by telephone — and the consultants concluded that pickleball is underserved in that area compared to places like Langford or Kelowna.

Graves continues.

“So, the number-one point is: we need more pickleball courts in that area for residents. We don’t need fewer. We don’t need to tear them up, we need more of them.

The second point is that in the past two years, a lot has changed. There are quieter paddles and new technologies. I’ve got a couple of balls here — they’re called “librarian pickleballs” because they don’t make a whole lot of noise. [taps ball] You probably can’t even hear that, that’s the quiet one, and this is a regular one.”

“That sounds pretty quiet,” commented Bennett.

Listen to Graves’ 11-minute discussion, provided by CKNW, by clicking HERE.

For more information on the VRPA, please click HERE.

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