Meet Eileen McClean, now living now in St.Albert, Alberta, originally from Northern Ireland. Eileen was elected to the Pickleball Canada Board of Directors in June 2023.
Eileen was introduced to pickleball in California in 2013. Returning to St Albert, she found the Larose courts and a group of pickleball players who had started a club in St.Albert. She joined the board that year and became president later that year, undertaking the work to refurbish tennis courts into 12 pickleball courts in St.Albert. The experience gave her insight into grants and the process of collaborating with agencies to get the work done. She was fortunate to have great people working on the Board with her and while some of the Board members have changed she is still President of the club which has grown from 100 members to 800+ members today. She is also the venue manager which is a great love of hers; working on schedules and venues, putting to good use the relationships she has built over the years. The volunteer base in St Albert grows each year and Eileen is most proud of the volunteers in the club. As a retired principal from FortMcMurray she believes in servant leadership and is proud to serve the members of the St Albert pickleball club.
Eileen lived in Fort McMurray for 31 years loving her time as a teacher and principal. As everyone she met had moved away from their first home it gave her a wonderful opportunity to make great multi-national connections and build long lasting relationships. Earning her level one referee last year, she plans to earn the second level this summer.
Married to Kevin for almost 48 years, they have three children and three grandchildren. When she is not on the pickleball courts, Eileen is a Stampin’Up demonstrator teaching classes on how to create cards and she also creates 50+ cards a month in her card ministry for the seniors in the St.Albert Nursing homes and hospice, which means that every senior in two nursing homes receives a birthday card.