Volleyball players fight to save Calgary Pumphouse Park courts

Volleyball players in Calgary are fighting to have their voices heard by the City after learning beach courts at Pumphouse Park may be removed.

Mark MacGillivray, the founder of Calgary Sportsing Meetup, says there’s “no better way to spend a summer day than playing beach volleyball.”

He says they welcome players of all skills and ages.

“We will play all sorts of sports: tennis, wallyball, volleyball, beach volleyball, ultimate, soccer and whatever else anyone wants to try,” the About page of the Meetup reads.

However, with the redevelopment plans, he is voicing his frustration with the process.

“You need to go out to an outline community in order to get recreational opportunities,” he explained to CityNews.

“Given the fact that we’re such a large city, we have so many people playing the sport, it doesn’t make sense to take them away.”

A thread on Reddit called “Save the Beach Volleyball Courts at Pumphouse Park – Act Now!” is pushing for action from Calgarians.

“These courts are at risk of being demolished, and we cannot let that happen,” the thread reads.

“Countless memories have been made on those sands, and we must preserve them.”

MacGillivray says the city should reconsider the exclusion of the courts since the first round of public consultations happened during the pandemic, along with the second round happening during March 2022 when the nets weren’t up, which is “too cold to play.”

According to the city’s report, the city’s redevelopment plans don’t include courts. Instead, there will be more picnic areas, scooter and bike parking, and open green spaces flexible for active and passive recreation.

Ward 8 Coun. Courtney Walcott says he’s heard from some volleyball players and reminds them three beach courts are available not far from Pumphouse Park at Millennium Park.

He says there was little mention of it because of the nearby courts.

“These conversations that we’re having, I think it might even just be a worthwhile opportunity to let people know the amenities that are within a kilometre of the other ones,” Walcott said.

MacGillivray says he is going to start a petition to save the courts.

Meanwhile, the Reddit thread says people can call 311 to express their concerns “about the potential removal of the beach volleyball courts at Pumphouse Park.”

More information about the redevelopment plans can be found online.