A Port Moody man has put a new twist to the latest Tri-Cities’ pickleball drama — with an accordion.
Posting under the Twitter handle Accordiyonder, Adam Faber musically parodies the struggles of Coquitlam resident Connie Ball to achieve peace and quiet from the constant thwack of pickleball matches at nearby Blue Mountain Park.
“Today is gonna be the day I lie down for an hour or two,” Faber sings as he plays the melody of Wonderwall by the British band Oasis on the accordion.
“But now with the racquets coming out it’s not something I can do.”
Faber said he was inspired by a story in the Tri-City News of Ball’s plight.
The resident of Blue Mountain Manor said she has complained dozens of times to city councillors and bylaw staff that noise from pickleball has disrupted the lives of residents in the apartment complex just south of the tennis courts where the game is played.
She said she’s even planning to contact B.C.’s Office of the Ombudsperson and the province’s Human Rights Commissioner in her quest to attain peace and quiet.
“This has severely impacted my health,” Ball said.
The growing popularity of the sport, which is like a compact version of tennis that’s played on a half-sized court with a hard racquet and plastic perforated whiffle ball, has led to increasing conflicts over its staccato sound.
Last year, Port Moody council directed staff to remove pickleball lines from tennis courts at Chestnut Way Park after noise complaints from neighbours.
And in January, the District of West Vancouver decided to close its only dedicated outdoor pickleball courts.
A study by an Arizona acoustics company said the sport’s “impulsive” sound causes stress, fatigue and anxiety that can affect people’s ability to concentrate, relax or sleep.
Some manufacturers have developed quieter paddles, and sound dampening panels were erected around the courts at Blue Mountain Park.
But Ball said they were ineffective, as the noise still extended above the fence line.
Julie McRitchie, the president of the PoCoMo Pickleball Club that has 327 players from across the Tri-Cities, said a dedicated indoor facility would be the ultimate solution to the sport’s sound problems.
But it wouldn’t be cheap as a complex with 12 courts was recently erected in Vernon at a cost of more than $2 million.
As for whether local accordionist Accordiyonder has any more musical parodies on local issues in him, only time will tell. He just launched his Twitter account last month.
— with files from Janis Cleugh and Brent Richter, North Shore News
Pickleball drama in Coquitlam, the Accordion Musical pic.twitter.com/saRE26bP6K
— Accordiyonder (@accordiyonder) February 1, 2022
