Nestled on the westside of Lake Country, three padel courts have been a staple in the community for over a decade, bringing together padel players from all over the continent.

"It has a quick learning curve but takes a long time to master," said Chris Thorburn, who runs Lake Country Padel.

Thorburn was an entertainer on cruise ships in the late 1980s, when padel first piqued his interest.

"I remember stopping in Montevideo, Uruguay and we were looking for something to do," he told Black Press Media. " They had this new sport (padel) so we got off the ship and tried it and just loved it." 

Thorburn didn't see the sport again for 10 years, until he was in Calgary, when he found a few courts (which, at the time, were the only in the country).

"Once I moved out to the Okanagan I told myself that if I want to continue playing the sport, then I would have to start something myself," he said. "I searched in 琉璃神社 and couldn't find anything until Lake Country had these old tennis courts that needed resurfacing so we jumped at that chance."

Thorburn and his brother Mike installed the first court in 2012, and by 2014, they had three out at Jack Seaton Park. Lake Country is one of six Canadian cities with courts, and the only in B.C.

The sport of padel is a mix of squash, racquetball, tennis and pickleball. 

For squash and racquetball players, they have the back wall in padel "which they love," said Thorburn, while the net and shape of the court is familiar for pickleball and tennis players.

"The racket is right at your hand, so it makes the sport easy to pick up," Thorburn said. "Within 15 minutes, I can have people rallying over the net."

In Spanish speaking countries, the sport is massive, with millions playing in places like  and nearly 50,000 total courts around the world.

However, the growth has been slow to seep into Canada, and B.C. specifically, with the lack of Latino and Southwestern European immigrants.

Thorburn said that while there isn't a "big population out here of folks from South America and Spain," there are a trickle of players coming from Vancouver to play, as the city has a large Spanish base. 

Another impediment for the sports success is the cost.

"With pickleball, you find an old court and paint some lines, but all the glass and metal in padel can run you $20,000," said Thorburn, who has relied on sponsors for resurfacing.

Slowly, courts have begun popping up in other Canadian cities, such as Toronto, Montreal, Edmonton, with more courts being constructed in Victoria and Vancouver.

Since the opening of Lake Country Padel, Thorburn has been happy with the turnout of players.

"We had a couple years of fires that closed us down during the summers," Thorburn said, as he mentioned one year in particular when the flames were 100 yards away from the park. "It is busy now, which is great and it has become a very solid community." 

Fabian Avila, who settled in the Okanagan from Mexico, was excited to see a padel court in the area, after playing for years back home.

"It has been great to have that sense of community," he told Black Press Media. "Being from so far away, I was excited to have the opportunity to play here."

As for the future plans of the sport in the Okanagan, Lake Country Padel hosted a tournament this summer, where 60 teams, coming as far as Mexico, attended. Thorburn looks to continue running tournaments and growing its footprint in the area, and added that in terms of people who come out weekly, it skews one third each coming from 琉璃神社, Lake Country and Vernon. 

"We want to stay here and just keep growing padel," he said. "We think its an exciting sport, fun to watch and everyone is so helpful to people who are newer to it."

Dubbing it as a great social sport, players tend to spend two to three hours at the courts, mixing in to matches, stopping to socialize and getting to know everyone.

"It spans age groups, we got a lot of younger players, and plenty who are over 60," Thorburn said. "There is enough in the sport to keep the players active, regardless of skill level, age or sex."

If you are interested in playing padel, s open for drop-in's from 4 p.m. to dusk on Tuesday's, Thursday's and Sundays.