It used to be a hockey arena, then a badminton club. But on most weekday mornings, a gritty space situated in an industrial strip mall in Scarborough is home to Progress Pickleball Club.
“Badminton takes three quarters of the time,” according to the club’s manager Mike Livie, who said he is constantly scrambling for more courts to meet increasing demand. Their current space in east-end Toronto only allows pickleball from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m., Monday through Friday.
“It’s really not enough time and [the space] has been cutting my hours down,” he said.
The 74-year-old Livie has watched pickleball surge in popularity in recent years, quickly evolving from a
