A Caribbean street sport is getting its moment in Toronto schools, and a wellness event in Scarborough over the weekend showed just how simple and inexpensive it is for anyone to play.
An empty street, a ball and a paddle are all you need to play road tennis, a sport native to Barbados that has been enjoyed by locals since the 1930s. Traditionally played between two people, the game is played on a 21-by-10-foot court using wooden paddles, with an eight-inch-high wooden plank serving as the net.
What is road tennis?
Often described as a blend of traditional tennis, lawn tennis and ping-pong, road tennis offers a more accessible alternative to a sport that can be expensive to get into. Between rackets, proper footwear, court fees and private lessons, tennis can quickly cost players hundreds or even thousands of dollars.
For those looking to simply pick up a paddle and play, road tennis offers a low-cost way to get moving.
That accessibility was on full display at The Bajan Serve, held in Scarborough on July 11. The afternoon celebrated Barbados’ homegrown sport while creating space for meaningful conversations around mental health and wellness across the Caribbean diaspora.
Why it’s growing in Ontario schools
Organized by Caribbean-Canadian photographer Marcia Garnes and culture writer-turned-sports marketing strategist Sharine Taylor, the one-day event was born out of a desire to bring Barbados’ approach to wellness beyond its borders.
“Barbados has the second highest amount of centenarians on the planet — people living over 100 years old,” Taylor told Now Toronto at The Bajan Serve. “We wanted to provide an opportunity for people to learn a little bit more about what Caribbean wellness looks like, and what are the folks doing in Barbados and in the Caribbean to like ensure vitality, longevity, and road tennis was a super accessible sport and a really great way for us to start the conversation around those kinds of things.”
Over four hours, attendees heard from panellists Tiana Pollari and Coach T of the fitness vacation experience SWEAT in Barbados, along with Ron Kellman of Gauntlet Road Tennis and Road Tennis Canada, organizations leading efforts to introduce the sport to school boards across Canada.
More than a game
Through Kellman’s advocacy, more than 500 Ontario schools across the Toronto, York Region and Peel District school boards have introduced road tennis as part of their physical education curriculum. Taylor says the sport has also become a gateway for people of all ages to connect with Caribbean culture.
“Ron’s work through Road Tennis Canada is allowing kids to get involved and start playing with it,” Taylor said. “I think it’s a really great opportunity for kids to get involved, for older people to get involved, and then it becomes just another way to champion Caribbean culture, just through a different medium.”
Where to try it in Toronto
While The Bajan Serve likely won’t return, Taylor says the event was created as part of her capstone project for a postgraduate program at George Brown College. But Toronto’s growing appetite for road tennis doesn’t have to end there.
She points to BIM on the Boulevard, a two-day Barbados-themed street festival and Toronto-based Crop Over celebration taking place on July 24 and 25. The festival will take over 2851 Eglinton Ave. E., at the intersection of Barbados Boulevard and Eglinton Avenue, where attendees can immerse themselves in Bajan culture, including a road tennis tournament.
Until then, Taylor hopes newcomers will give the sport a try — not just for the competition, but because it’s so easy to pick up.
“One of the reasons that I really liked road tennis was just how accessible it is,” she said. “One of the things that we discussed was how busy it was to integrate fitness and wellness into your daily schedule. All you need for road tennis is the road, a paddle and a ball — and then you can just kind of go for it. I’m hoping that more people are drawn to it because of those things as well.”
