Tillsonburg Pickleball Club

Tillsonburg Pickleball Courts are Officially Open

And just like that, Tillsonburg's brand new pickleball courts in Optimist Park (across from the Tillsonburg Community Centre) are open! Mayor Deb Gilvesy cut the ribbon this week with help from members of Council, Town staff and some very excited pickleball players.

Pickleball Courts Grand Opening

The courts are ready June 29/24!

Another beautiful Evening

Another beautiful evening and two more groups of excited pickleballers learning how to play the game from the best! A special shout out to our club member Kent Wheeler who has played pickleball for over 10 years and has the magical ability to make the game look so easy and graceful. Kent has stepped in to help with coaching and share his experience and techniques. Thank you Kent, much appreciated!!! And of course Thank You to Cindy Bes and John Bes for your continued contributions to our club!! You guys are awesome!!

FYI we have 76 members to date!

Lessons

A big Thank You to our club pickleball coaches Cindy and John Bes who have been giving their time, knowledge, energy and enthusiasm into every one of the many lessons they have instructed already this spring!Their passion for the game and for helping people learn the game is clearly evident as they are always giving 100 percent and more even on a scorcher of a day like it was today. Everyone please give a hand for these two incredible leaders who are helping our club so much!

AGM

We had a fantastic first Annual General Meeting tonight, June 6 2024. The first board was elected: Diane Peacock, Andy Wilcox, Carla Cameron, Brian Pendergast, Karen Northgraves, Peter Northgraves and Carolijn Verbakel. The board will now meet to delegate positions

There were discussions on player development, future tournaments, indoor play in Tillsonburg as well as hearing from the membership what they wanted to see happen this next year and into the future.

And now we have over 59 members!

If you want to join the club we are offering free lessons. Contact our club. Tillsonburgpickleballclub@gmail.com.

To join click the JOIN-RENEW button at the top of this page

Members, check your email for information on our first social event!

If you are not getting emails from Tillsonburgpickleballclub@gmail.com, check your trash or spam folders and add us to your contacts

June 7 Lessons

Another great clinic! 

Here's the happy group after their lessons! John and Cindy will go through the whole list of interested participants before offering second lessons, so everyone gets a chance.  Thanks again John and Cindy Bes!

Tillsonburg Pickleball Club AGM June 6 2024 6:30 pm

1^st
Annual General Meeting

Thursday June 6,2024 6:30 pm

At The Spot, 2^nd floor, Tillsonburg Town Centre. The same spot as our last information meeting in April

At this meeting we will be forming our official executive board to take us into the future.

Positions available: President, Vice President, Secretary/Treasurer, Administrator, 3 board members

Participation is key! Come with your ideas and suggestions! Let us know if you are interested in standing for one of these positions. Please email Tillsonburgpickleballclub@gmail.com

Only members of the Tillsonburg Pickleball Club will be able to vote.

Respectfully

The Tillsonburg Pickleball Club Steering Committee

PLC Sports Travel

This was an email sent to the club. Thought it was interesting and so am passing it along to the membership for your personal information. The club is not planning anything at this time.

Welcome to PLC Sports Travel. We are based in Headingley, Manitoba

PLC Sports Travel focuses on delivering a unique and unforgettable Pickleball experience to all our customers. We are passionate about international sports travel and introducing recreational athletes to amazing locations and competitions around the world.

We have been organizing sports tours for the past 20 years to over 30 countries worldwide. Some of our favorite destinations include Sweden, Finland, France, Germany, Czechia, Switzerland, Italy, Spain. Portugal, Australia, and New Zealand. Anywhere there is Pickleball, we can arrange a tour. PLC Sports Travel Tours are designed for players of all abilities.

A PLC Sports Travel representative travels with all groups to ensure each tour runs according to plan and each traveler has the “Trip of a Lifetime”.

If your club or any members are thinking about a Pickleball Tour, please visit our website at www.pickleballtours.ca to see the exciting lineup we have for 2024-2025. PLC Sports Travel will be pleased to customize a tour for your group to the destinations that interest you. Please follow us on Facebook at plcsportstravel.

Upcoming tours this fall include Ireland & Scotland and a tour going to Madrid, Seville, Granada and Malaga, Spain. Lots of Pickleball on these tours.

Please contact us anytime with any questions you may have about Pickleball Tours. One of our regional representatives will be happy to assist you.

If you would like to be removed from our mailing list, please reply unsubscribe to this email.

Kind regards,

The Sales Team

PLC Sports Travel

166 Bridge Rd.

Headingley, Manitoba

R4H 1G8

Mobile 204 955-7981

Email. Info@plcsportstravel.com

Website : www.pickleballtours.ca

May 26 2024

Last day of pickleball on the tennis courts! The new courts coming along.

photo credit: P Northgraves

May 24 2024 Courts Lessons and more

May 24 2024

Hello fellow pickleballers! The new courts in Tillsonburg are coming along nicely and we have been told that the completion date is the first week of July. The tennis court resurfacing will begin next week, so we will be without courts for the month of June. One option is the Cami Park in Ingersoll which has 8 pickleball courts new last year. It’s just north of the Cami plant on the same side, right beside the Seniors Centre. It’s free and courts are open dawn to dusk. There is a ‘Whats App’ group called Ingersoll Play. If you want to be added, let us know.

Another exciting development in the club is the chance to have free lessons! John and Cindy Bes have kindly offered to give lessons to any Tillsonburg Pickleball Club member. If you are interested, contact the club at Tillsonburgpickleballclub@gmail.com Give you name, contact information and the level you think you are, being beginner, intermediate or advanced. John and Cindy will contact you to schedule the lessons once the new courts are up and running.

The steering committee is busy organizing our first AGM (Annual General Meeting) for some time in June. We will be firming up the date and will let you know. Please consider being a more active member of the club, in any capacity. We hope to add tournaments and fun days in the coming months.

That’s all for now! Happy Pickling!

The Tillsonburg Pickleball Club Steering Committee

Newsletter #1

Hello fellow Tillsonburg Pickleball Club members. What a week it has been. It started last Monday April 22^nd, in packed room with a great group of pickleball enthusiasts. We were so lucky to have had Alison Baron and John Hindle, president of the Niagara on the Lake Pickleball Club Inc to share their knowledge with us all. We couldn’t be more excited to grow pickleball in our town going forward and we are truly thankful to John and Alison to help us launch what will work for Tillsonburg and area citizens.

So what has happened since Monday…

• First and foremost, we have officially 42 Members. That is amazing. And, there is ongoing interest and inquiries about the club on a daily basis
• We have reached out to our local recreation department
• We have also reached out to our local newspaper and neighboring communities
• A meeting has been arranged with the Tillsonburg Recreation Department on Wednesday May 1^st to forge a relationship and create a plan going forward
• The Steering Committee is meeting to develop a vision and a strategic plan including planning for our first annual general meeting that you will all be invited to
• Lastly, we continue to explore the grant that Ontario Pickleball Association will offer new clubs called Plant the Seeds. This initiative is designed to support member clubs in launching two key programs: Learn the Game Initiative and/or Youth Programming.

I’m sure we will have even more information to share the following weeks and it is our intent to keep you informed as much as possible. It takes a village to raise a pickleball community and we are so grateful that you will be a part of the journey!

Diane Peacock, Steering Committee Chair

Welcome to Tillsonburg Pickleball Club!!!!

We are very excited to grow this fun interactive sport in our town. Tillsonburg Pickleball Club is a non-profit club, and an official member club of Pickleball Canada and Pickleball Ontario. Currently, we are the only Pickleball club in Tillsonburg

 Membership fees are a total of only $30 annually:$10 Tillsonburg Pickleball Club  $10 Pickleball Canada  $10 Pickleball Ontario    Included in the fees are members and club insurance.If you are already a member of Pickleball Ontario, you only pay the $10 to add Tillsonburg Pickleball Club as one of your clubs.Please Note that Membership fees are non-refundable from all 3 entities, so please consider that before you join.

Pickleball Canada and Pickleball Ontario offers Tillsonburg Pickleball Club members many benefits including allowing you to register for tournaments with other members, insurance for both clubs and members, training video and a host of socials throughout the year. Be a part of the future of pickleball in Tillsonburg

Tillsonburg Pickleball Club aims to grow this sport, in fun interactive ways for all citizens!

First Meeting and Info Session - John Verbakel

Much like everywhere in North America, interest in pickleball in Tillsonburg is exploding. On Monday, April 22, the steering committee of the newly formed Tillsonburg Pickleball club, held a meeting in the Town Centre mall, which was attended by 65 enthusiastic, prospective club members. Steering committee president Diane Peacock enthusiastically welcomed everyone in the room packed to capacity.

Alison Baron and John Hindle, president of the Niagara on the Lake Pickleball Club Inc. were invited to speak with the group. Their organization dealing with a similar population to Tillsonburg, started in 2016 with 30 members and has mushroomed to over 600 through a culture of inclusion, partnerships with local government and private sector and many volunteers to foster their growth.

Hindle spoke about his club’s journey and provided the Tillsonburg and surrounding area participants with insights on how to make their own decisions on what might be considered for their own situation. As well, he emphasized the importance of partnerships and that pickleball clubs need to educate local governments and interested partners on the potential income streams that would be mutually beneficial.

Hindle used the analogy of the Titanic when making decisions about growth. He said that most of us who have access to some sort of playing facility are already in the lifeboats, however there is a majority of those in local communities who are still on the ship or in the water because there just aren’t enough courts. Their club decided to provide more lifeboats to allow everyone in as opposed to closing off membership to an exclusive few, and thus over 600 members. Club play happens in four different sites.

It appears that a major benefit of joining the club is to acquire the liability insurance required by prospective playing sites, outside of community courts and allow players to use those potential facilities. In addition, the club would, in negotiation with the town, provide appropriate scheduling, balls, coaching supporting and a host of other benefits.

Hindle talked about all the advantages of becoming a formal club and being affiliated with the provincial pickleball organization and how that might be relevant to the group in attendance. By the conclusion of yesterday’s meeting a large number of the 65 in attendance had already signed up online to become an official club member.

Plans are now underway to formalize the Tillsonburg Pickleball Club by establishing an executive so that the important work of growing pickleball playing opportunities will continue to match the speed with which this popular sport is growing.

If you are interested in joining the Tillsonburg Pickleball Club, go to http://www.pickleballcanada.org/club/tillsonburgpickleballclub