Peachland Councillor Randey Brophy has criticized some media coverage about the importance of pickleball in the community.
The 2024 Peachland Citizens Survey, reviewed by council at its Dec. 3 meeting, found pickleball was the was.
Brophy specifically mentioned Â鶹AV in his comments.
“Years ago when I went to SFU there was a book on how to lie with statistics, and this, whether intended or not in my opinion, I don’t want to be confrontational or anything like that, is a perfect example,” he said.
Brophy argued the ranking was unfair. He said pickleball isn’t more important than essential services like police, fire, ambulance, or economic development.
“You see what I’m getting at, it’s a meaningless comparison that’s been pulled out to deny the importance of this in the community. Nobody in their right mind is going to rate pickleball or any other sport ahead of basic services, that’s just common sense.”
Brophy further suggested that a more meaningful comparison would be to compare recreational services head to head.
“I would suggest to you that we’ve done a fair bit of work in increasing facilities for children and adults in the community,” Brophy told his colleagues. The largest demographic in our community is 55 up and we have not done a good job in getting additional recreational facilities for them.”
He said the pickeball comparison is misleading. “What’s going to happen though, it’s already happening, people are pulling that out and saying there shouldn’t be any pickleball courts. It’s wrong.”
Brophy, a member of the Peachland Pickleball Society, recused himself from a council vote on Nov. 26 due to a potential conflict of interest. At that meeting, council directed staff to request proposals to build up to four new pickleball courts in the community.
