A national sports organization is hoping to build its national training centre in the MD of Foothills and is looking for feedback from local residents.

A padel player returns a shot during a match in Calgary. The Padel Association of Canada is looking to build a permanent indoor facility in the MD of Foothills likely in Aldersyde.

The Padel Association of Canada (PAC) is working with the Foothills MD council and local tennis clubs in hopes of building an indoor sports facility between 70,000 and 90,000 square feet near Aldersyde at a cost of about $3 million.

PAC president Bill Stamile said the goal is to build a multi-purpose public facility that would be suitable for padel, tennis, squash, racquetball, volleyball and other activities.

Stamile said they are doing a public survey to ensure there would be support for the facility in the foothills.

“We want to see if this is going to work or if it is just a pipedream,” said Stamile. “We want to show people this is not a crazy idea. We want to have a cross-section of racquet sports to help grow and be a vibrant facility.”

Stamile said there are only a handful of indoor padel facilities in Canada and they have been trying to build a court in Calgary for more than 12 years with no success. As a result, PAC started looking outside the city for a site to build what will become PAC’s national training centre.

PAC found a willing partner in the MD of Foothills which has committed to help Stamile find a suitable parcel of land.

Foothills MD Coun. Larry Spilak said the MD has not made any financial commitments, but would consider donating a municipal reserve parcel for the project.

Spilak said the MD has been working with Stamile for more than a year in hopes of bringing the PAC project to the municipality.

“There is no question we want to have them out here and we will see what we can do,” said Spilak. “A fundamental part of a healthy community is recreation facilities because it brings families and communities together.

“We are going to get a site secured with no financial responsibility to the MD, they found their own money,” he added. “Without committing any tax dollars we will get a nice facility in the MD.”

Spilak said the MD is looking at a couple of municipal reserve parcels in the Aldersyde area as well as sharing a school site.

The MD of Foothills is also working on building a regional fieldhouse in the Aldersyde area in a joint partnership with the towns of Okotoks, Black Diamond and Turner Valley. The PAC training centre is a separate project, but Stamile said it would certainly complement the regional fieldhouse which is expected to accommodate indoor soccer, lacrosse and gymnastics and other activities.

For Stamile he said working with the MD has been refreshing after failed attempts to build a PAC training centre in other communities.

With the support of the MD, Stamile said now the key is to ensure there is enough support from the residents in the MD and the surrounding communities. He said he is confident people will embrace a new recreation facility.

“Every time we turn around there is more interest,” said Stamile who added the tennis clubs in Okotoks and High River have expressed interest in getting involved.

As for the facility itself, Stamile said the dream is a 90,000 square-foot indoor facility that would include four tennis courts, four padel courts, four squash courts, a gym and other amenities.

Stamile said PAC would raise 25 per cent of the $3 million budget and apply for provincial and federal grants to help cover the remainder.

He said a national training centre, which does not currently exist in Canada, would attract world class athletes to the foothills.

PAC had existed for 17 years and the sport of padel started in 1969. Today more than 20 countries compete in the world championships and eight million people play padel worldwide with professional leagues in Spain.

Padel is a hybrid of tennis and squash and is always played as doubles.

“The ball is always in play and you have to have patience, you have to be sneaky and you have to know your angles,” said Stamile.

The world championships were held in Calgary two years ago with 220 athletes competing.

An indoor training facility in Alberta will help the sport grow in Canada said Stamile, but he said the focus will be ensuring foothills residents access the facility.

“We want every square foot of the building being used whether it be volleyball, youth associations or a seniors bridge club,” he said.

To respond to the PAC survey visit www.racquetrec.ca. To see how padel is played visit www.youtube.com

jbarlow@okotoks.greatwest.ca

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