Charn Dilokkullanan’s first love was ping-pong. Hankering for some table tennis in 2019, he headed to the local rec centre to find a game, but the manager there asked if he would maybe like to try pickleball instead. He quickly grew to enjoy the game, teaching his wife to play as well. “The nice thing about this game is that even though she had never played any racquet sports before, she was able to hit back and forth on the first day,” Dilokkullanan says. When his wife died last year, his family noticed he was lonely. Dilokkullanan’s daughter Chindarat Morrison was determined to hang out with him more to help raise his spirits. Then it came to her: Why not play pickleball as a family together?
Theirs is just one of many Toronto families who have turned to the trendy sport as an easy, fun way to spend quality time together. Head to a pickleball spot in the city and you’re liable to see groups of all ages batting the ball around as multiple generations use their court time to bond with one another.
While Dilokkullanan’s 15-year-old grandson Daniel Morrison was leery about it at first (he prefers going to the gym), he eventually grew to enjoy the time spent playing with his grandfather, mom and aunt. “Playing pickleball with my grandpa is more fun than most other activities because it’s easy to learn, and I have a very skilled grandpa to teach me,” Morrison says. “We don’t have many things that we all do together as a family, but pickleball is one of them.” Dilokkullanan also finds playing sports together an easy way to “communicate” with his grandson, given that his English isn’t super-strong. It’s good enough, however, to still dish some friendly trash talk: He’s eager to point out that, even though his grandson looks “young and strong, he can’t beat me in this sport yet!”
Renée and Claudia Tse’s parents also got their family into the pickleball scene. They’d joined a badminton league that quickly converted into a pickleball league once the sport took off in popularity; one of the members is in their 80s and still smacking the ball around. “It’s such a great game you can play with all ages. We’ve also seen a young couple include their young kids to play, and you just hear laughter,” their dad, John Tse, says. “It’s truly a multi-generation game.”
Claudia says. “But I have a theory they got us involved because they needed two other players to make a team,” Renée adds. Regardless of the parents’ motives, playing together as a family is a novel way to spend time en famille. Previously, they’d have meals together or movie nights. “But pickleball has been an interesting additional family activity because it gets us all out of the house and doing something active together,” Renée says. “It beats just sitting in front of the TV doing a K-drama marathon.” Their aunt and cousins have even joined in on the fun, allowing them to get to know more of their extended family.
Pickleball has won a lot of fans due to how easy it is to learn and play. “It’s a low-commitment sport we can all play together whenever we find the time,” according to Jacy Wan, Renée and Claudia’s mom. “It’s such an easy one to arrange and play together.” That doesn’t mean, however, that the parents give their kids a break on the court, says John: “It’s nice to get a little competitive with the kids. We don’t go easy on them and vice versa. But it’s all fun and games, as long as we’re enjoying it together as a family.” Even Renée — who has the least racquet sport experience in the family — has found it simple to start. “It doesn’t matter how young or old or advanced or inexperienced you are, it’s so easy to pick up. You honestly don’t have to be the best pickleball player to have fun,” she says.
It can even help families forge new skills — or see a family member in a new light. Chindarat has been touched by the fact that her father avoided hitting the ball too hard to spare her feelings. “He was playing very gently, so I can at least win some points,” she says. Playing together has also built the family’s communication skills. “In pickleball, you’re playing doubles. We have to communicate about strategies, like if one person is strong at the net and the other one is stronger at the baseline,” Chindarat says. “The same goes with life: If something is not working, then we must figure out what other things we can do or better things to solve the problem.” John Tse has had to chill out a bit when paired with less skilled players in the family. “It was humbling and really tested my patience when I had to play on the same team as the daughter who doesn’t play as well,” he says.
Family pickleball sessions have taught 14-year-old Miles Kim to be more supportive. “Mom and Dad get me to say, ‘good job’ or ‘nice try,’” he says. Playing pickleball with the clan can also help create special traditions. This way, Miles’s twin, Elliot jokes, “we don’t fall into a crippling depression.” Plus, Miles says, it’s easier and more fun to be active together as a family. “And it’s something we can bond over,” Miles says. “Now we have inside jokes about pickleball, which makes it funny.” In their family parlance, “Beatrice-ing someone” is when you hit the ball straight at someone’s feet, which makes it tough to return. It’s named after their mom’s signature move.
Beatrice Kim had watched her twin sons play hockey and baseball for years and yearned to join in the fun. She found soccer a little tough on her 40-something body, and tennis seemed to require a lot of training. With pickleball, she can appreciate the small pleasures of the game: the sound of the pop of the ball, the feeling of a great rally or making a shot that surprises everybody. Plus, she gets to assume more of an active role in the family’s leisure activities. “I’m really proud to show my kids that mom is athletic and can be competitive, too, and not just cheering them on from the bench or driving them to practice,” she says. “It’s the kind of game that the boys can meet my skills with their youth and energy, and we can get a good competitive game going.”
There’s been an extra bonus, too: She’s been able to connect with people even beyond her family, too. “I’ve met so many really lovely people in the neighbourhood playing in High Park that I would have never had the chance to talk to before,” Beatrice says. “I’m hesitant to meet new people, generally, but going out to the courts breaks down those barriers.” She still remembers the time a small, white-haired lady came by in High Park, slowly pushing her shopping cart with her “tiny Pokémon-looking dog, Valentina” and asked to play with them. She told the kids to take it easy. “But she schooled us pretty quickly!” Beatrice says. “She had skills and spins and reflexes, and we all learned pretty quickly not to underestimate anyone on the court. We were very humbled when we couldn’t hold or own against her.”
Chindarat also found that pickleball can bring the wider community together. “I’ve seen again and again other players — people we’ve never met before — who have been so quick to welcome my dad as a friend,” she says. “The game just seems to attract people who are kind and welcoming.” Dilokkullanan agrees. “After I got into playing pickleball, I didn’t miss ping-pong much anymore!”
