City’s policy for distributing beach volleyball court permits at Ashbridges Bay criticized by local recreational player

By AMARACHI AMADIKE, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Volleyball enthusiasts in the East Toronto area are calling for increased access to playing spaces at the Ashbridges Bay volleyball courts on Woodbine Beach.

With the majority of the 103 courts at the west end of the beach requiring a permit to use, only eight are reserved for public use. However, these “public” courts are likely to be unavailable if volleyball players get to the beach after office hours, according to Sarah Khoo, a member of a local volleyball group.

Khoo’s group was advised by the City of Toronto that the only solution was to get a permit for the courts to guarantee space would be available to play.

“I thought this was silly because we’re residents and in order for us to do some recreational exercise, we have to get a permit,” said Khoo.

Upon getting their application for the $3,000 permit approved, however, Khoo’s group was assigned just two courts (Courts 38 and 39) in the south side of the beach area. She said those two courts have been rejected by other groups and are often littered with bird feces, are rocky, and sometimes wet as a result of high water and flooding.

These two courts were to be shared amongst about 25 members of her group, said Khoo.

“To be honest, half of last year we couldn’t even use the courts,” said Khoo. “Why are we paying for courts that are at the end for the same price as courts that are nearest to the Boardwalk with great sand and no issues with rocks and everything else?”

Khoo and her friends were able to get a small portion of their money back after complaining to the city about the state of those two courts they were given permits for.

She said she feels her small non-profit group is being treated unfairly and that larger organizations get the prime courts for their permits.

“Why is the city giving the prime courts to only profit-making entities,” she said.

Although the permit cost was partially refunded, Khoo is still unsatisfied as she believes that the permit-based courts should be accessible to all residents and not just the organizations that currently hold claim to the lion’s share of spaces.

She escalated her concerns to Beaches-East York Councillor Brad Bradford who acknowledged that demand for playing space “far outstrips supply at the Ashbridge’s Bay volleyball courts”.

“While many of the court bookings go to larger organized leagues, it’s important that individuals, families and groups still get a chance to get out and play,” said Bradford.

He said the city’s parks department has been adding additional non-bookable courts for residents “while also managing conditions like high water levels last summer that made some courts unplayable”.

Eight of the 103 volleyball courts on Woodbine Beach at Ashbridges Bay are designated as public use and do not require permits. Photo by Alan Shackleton.

However, with the lack of non-bookable courts leading to some altercations amongst locals, according to Khoo, her group would prefer to simply be granted access to the better conditioned courts that require permits.

“We are OK with paying to rent them, but we cannot even get them,” she said. “We just need two to three courts on certain days. If we have to pay, we will do so.”

Khoo was critical of the city giving the majority of the permits to groups making money from the use of the courts. “This is just frustrating and unjustified,” she said.

The city policy on permits leaves “no courts for the residents of the community at all,” said Khoo.

With the matter still unresolved, Bradford told Beach Metro Community News that he will continue to work with residents and city staff to “maximize opportunities for everyone to get out on the sand”.

– Amarachi Amadike is a Local Journalism Initiative Reporter for Beach Metro Community News. His reporting is funded by the Government of Canada through its Local Journalism Initiative.