Esquimalt recreation staff say they’ve found a solution that would allow both a roller derby league and pickleball players to use the Archie Browning Sports Centre — moving a third group’s practice time to CFB Esquimalt.
But executives at the Greater Victoria Minor Ball Hockey Association say they are in the dark as to what that actually means for their players and families.
Katie Bernado, the ball hockey league’s vice-president, says they are still waiting to hear back from CFB Esquimalt’s Naden Athletic Centre about scheduling.
“We’re kind of waiting to find out. Is this in addition to the space we had at Naden?” she said. “We don’t really know.”
The association, which has grown to around 520 registered players this year, already rents out Naden Athletic Centre’s Wurtele Arena in addition to two other recreation centres for its practices.
Bernado said while she understands that facility staff are doing their best, the ball hockey league has so far lost floor time at every arena it has used — particularly after-dinner hours for the youngest ball hockey players.
“We haven’t experienced this before, so we’re having to get creative,” she said. “We’ve got a great team of executives that are really putting their heads together to make sure that [the season] happens.”
Bernado said the association may now look at getting more practice space at the Juan de Fuca recreation centre as well as other facilities in the capital region’s outlying areas.
The scheduling troubles at Archie Browning Sports Centre began when the township proposed up to 12 hours of daily pickleball programming.
Esquimalt is purchasing four portable pickleball courts to be installed in the centre’s curling rink dry floor during the off-season, which is expected to generate $45,000 in revenue within two years.
The Eves of Destruction, the capital region’s roller derby group based out of Archie Browning, had previously expressed concerns that expanding pickleball hours would push its practices to evening slots that are too late for its younger members.
Skye Dumond, the derby league’s vice-president, said the league is happy with the schedule it received on Friday morning, which came after consultation two weeks ago.
“We were able to explain all of our users’ needs and they were able to explain to us what all they are juggling on their side,” she said. “We’re still pursuing some outside space, but we’re happy with what they’ve offered us.”
In a statement, Esquimalt Mayor Barb Desjardins said a growing number of user groups are competing for Esquimalt’s finite recreation facility space.
“It’s always a challenge to balance community requests with the overall efficient use of our resources. I imagine we will see the need for flexibility in the future as demands on our facilities continue to grow.”
