National System Update

Kirk Jensen

The National System - Coming Soon to Your Province and Club!

The National System is one of the most important initiatives that Pickleball Canada is undertaking.  There have been over 1,000 man hours of work put into its development & the process to which it will be implemented.  The National System will touch every facet of our game from events, to tournaments, to fee payments, to member profiles.  With the growth of pickleball in Canada, without a true national system, our growth and the manual work required for the data from a wide variety of systems cannot be sustained with volunteers.

It is the goal of Pickleball Canada to become a National Sport Organization.   This will allow us access to government grants and funding.  We will also have a stronger voice with the government for lobbying on our game’s behalf.  To this end a National System is a “must” for the reporting and auditing that will be required for Sport Canada.

Purpose of the National System

The main purpose of the National System is to remove the 100s of hours that volunteers spend managing separate systems and spreadsheets across Canada. The National System will allow for consistent reporting of our membership and will be the platform for future IT services, communication and initiatives that can be rolled out on the national level.  

National System Committee 

In November, I was asked to lead the development and implementation of the National System. I have spent 30 years in systems development and have implemented National and Provincial central systems in the golf industry.  Richard Chambers has been managing the provincial membership data for a number of years.  He has worked countless hours to clean up every province’s membership information.  This membership information will be imported into the new National System.  Richard is now leading the education and setup with all the provinces having their first session by the end of January.  

A National System Committee has been formed with a key system contact from each province.  They are:

 

Alberta	Bev Walker
British Columbia	Rod Williams
Manitoba	Kevin Harrison
New Brunswick	Gerald Theriault
Newfoundland & Labrador      Leonard Lye
Northwest Territories               TBD
Nova Scotia	Angela Weld
Nunavut	TBD
Ontario	Gail Prior
Prince Edward Island	Brian Strongman
Quebec	Michel Dupras
Saskatchewan	Donna Loran
Yukon	Susan Staffen

 

For the operation of the National systems, and efficiency for the supporting the system the following Business Rules will be in place for the National System at the National, Provincial /Territorial and Club levels. They are:

 

• A Club must have a unique name within their province.

• The Province/Territory and each Club must have a National System key contact.

• The renewal date for National, Provincial/Territorial and Club fees will be January 1 for a 12-month period to December 31.

• For the National System to collect Club fees the Club must have a club bank account.

• The Province/Territory will sign an affiliation agreement with Pickleball Canada. (copy to PCO).

• The Club will sign an affiliation agreement with their governing province/territory. (copy to PCO).

Implementation is expected to start with Saskatchewan by the middle of February with other provinces coming on as they and their clubs are ready.  All provinces will be on the system by the fall of 2021.

As the system is implemented, we appreciate your support and patience on all four levels: The Member, the Club, the Province and the National level.  It is an exciting time as we move into the next generation of our great game.  Stayed tuned for updates from Pickleball Canada, your province and your club!  

 

Kirk Jensen
VP Competitions and Sport Development