Between their quintet, they boast 141 years of playing a sport they fear is on its last legs in Richmond.
The group — Patrick Fung, Ed Teranishi, Shawn Ho, Dave Breen and Murray Iseli — are five of a 25-strong crowd who play racquetball at South Arm Community Centre’s two courts up to four times a week.
Demand for the 66-year-old sport, which is very similar to squash, has waned over the last few years and the community centre now has the city’s two remaining racquetball courts.
And with South Arm Community Association and the City of Richmond currently considering a plan to increase fitness floor space, at the expense of one of the courts and a squash court, the racquetball community is fighting for the future of its sport.
“We’re down to the last two courts in the city and to take one of them away would be very damaging to the sport,” said one of the five, Teranishi, who has been playing for 37 years, 25 of which at South Arm.
“It won’t affect squash as much, because there are plenty of other squash courts around Richmond.
“There used to be a league based out of South Arm, but it folded a few years ago; people are getting older, I guess, and not as many younger ones coming through.”
Teranishi said there used to be other courts across the city but now everyone travels from all over Richmond to South Arm and some come from the Marpole area to play. Teranishi and his fellow racquetball players have spent the last few weeks putting together a petition with more than 200 signatures pleading for the courts to be saved.
That petition was handed to City of Richmond staff during a meeting with the players last week.
“We didn’t know the community centre was considering this until very recently,” added Teranishi.
“We met two weeks ago with city staff and gave them our input and we were told they’re going to look at it again.”
Both the city and the community association are justifying the direction being taken based partly on a gradual decline in racquetball bookings over the last few years.
However, Teranishi said the bookings don’t tell the full story of the number of players still involved in the sport in Richmond.
“There are sometimes 12 or 13 people using those two courts, playing doubles and whatever,” he said.
“So it may look like one booking, but there are many of us playing at the same time.
“This could kill the sport in Richmond. It’s a very social sport; afterwards we all go to the Pioneer Pub. But this will make it very hard to get court time.”
City spokesperson Ted Townsend said the demand for fitness facilities has grown beyond the capacity of the existing centre.
“At the same time, there is shrinking demand for the four courts and we’re looking at eliminating one of each to allow the expansion to happen,” Townsend added.
“We understand the users of those courts are concerned about that and they’ve had meetings with the city. But nothing has been determined at this point…the association is still looking at all the options.”
Rob Dodman, community association president, said that, although the city owns the building, the association is “listened to,” as they operate the programs.
“We’re always trying to optimize the space that we have and the space is very limited,” explained Dodman.
“We’ve had some concerns for a number of years that the (racquetball court) usage has dropped significantly.
“Whereas, the fitness space is crammed and people are wanting more space and our numbers are showing that.”
Dodman said, as well as looking at the bookings numbers and drop-ins, recommendations from the staff at the centre are also taken into account.
He added consultants have been called in to help with the proposed renovations, but no funding has been approved.
“So, the price we have in mind is still very much unknown. It may be a phased approach, depending on the funding.”
Dodman said the association is “still looking and still trying to do what’s best for everyone in the community.”
