Blue skies, warm weather and freshly cut grass. Those words are often associated with tennis during the summer months. The new sport of ice tennis, lacks most of those things. As one could probably guess, this trendy and new pastime is the game of tennis we all know, except on an icy surface.
Edmonton’s Ice Tennis League is the first league of its kind in the world. Participants play with ice skates or cleats, pylons are used for lines and foam balls replace the fuzzy green tennis ball. Owner and league operator, Tristan Knight, said he got the idea after seeing ice polo in a travel brochure while on vacation in Switzerland. “I thought if they could do that, maybe we could do tennis on ice. And so far it’s been working great,” said Knight, sporting hockey attire from the waist down.
The Ice Tennis League plays most of its games on the weekends at the Lynwood Community Ice Rink. Since the league’s inception three months ago, the winter activity brings out new and familiar faces every weekend. Knight wants to make this sport as accessible as possible for all ages and skill-levels. No expensive memberships are needed to try ice tennis. It’s free to play and event information can be found on their Facebook page. Knight always comes prepared with a duffle bag of rubber cleats and extra tennis racquets that are available to anyone who wants to play. “I’d like to see more people come out, give it a shot,” said Knight. “Just trying it once or watching it, I think it could prove a lot of people wrong.”
