Pickleball Canada Affiliated Clubs and Club Memberships

Pickleball is the fastest growing sport in the world!!!  Canada and USA have over 100,000 pickleball players.  Pickleball is now played in many other countries including India, Mexico,Spain, Netherlands, Ireland and the United Kingdom. 

2013:  PIckleball Canada held its 2nd National Championship in July, 2013.  USAPA held its Nationals V in November, 2013.   India held its 1st National Tournament in December, 2013.

2014: The 3rd Pickleball Canada National Open Championship will be held in Abbotsford, BC on July 4 - 6, 2014. The USAPA Nationals VI will be held in Buckeye, AZ in November, 2014.  The first International Pickleball Tournament will be held in Amsterdam, Netherlands in May 16-18, 2014. 

Pickleball Canada is very pleased that our member numbers have increased from 700 to 900.  This month we welcomed 3 new Club Memberships.   Pickleball Canada has six affiliated clubs with about 300 new PCO members. 

These are Pickleball Canada Affiliated Clubs:

Nanaimo Pickleball Club, Nanaimo, B.C.
Thompson Okanagan Pickleball Enthusiasts, Osoyoos, B.C.

Kamloops Pickleball Club, Kamloops, B.C.

East Dartmouth Community Centre Pickleball Club, Dartmouth, Nova Scotia
Collingwood Pickleball Club, Collingwood, Ontario

Fraser Valley Pickleball, Fraser Valley, B.C. 

Many other new clubs and groups are formed all over Canada: Vernon Pickleball Club, Vancouver Island Pickleball Association, Pickleball Chilliwack, Oceanside Pickleball Club, Pickleball Saskatchewan, London Pickleball Club in Ontario. 

Pickleball Canada members receive many member benefits including newsletters, tournament points, ratings, $5.00 discounts many PCO sanctioned tournaments: The Nationals in Abbotsford, BC, Mission, BC, Rosedale, BC, Osoyoos, BC.  There are 7 PCO sanctioned tournaments in 2014 which includes Kelowna and Nanaimo, BC and Ontario.   We would like to thank all our members for their support of Pickleball Canada !!! 

Mission Madness Pickleball Tournament Feb 8-9, 2014

Mike Shepherd and Ross Priebe, Silver medals 4.0 Men's Doubles at Mission Madness 3.5 to 4.5 skill rated  tournament on Feb 8, 2014. Results: http://www.fraservalleypickleball.org

Tournament of Tulips - La Conner, Washington April 12, 2014

Join us for the inaugural Tournament of Tulips pickleball tournament in historic La Conner, Washington on Saturday, April 12, 2014. The tournament is being held during the world famous Skagit Tulip Festival.   Event Categories The tournament is open to all players ages 14+ and will be played in the following divisions: 3.0, 3.5, 4.0 and 4.5. Singles. Men’s Doubles. Women’s Doubles. Mixed Doubles.Cost $30 entry fee (includes 1 event). $5 for each additional event. Registration form:  www.skagitpickle.org

Rosebowl Fraser Valley Pickleball Tournament, March 8 - 9

The Rosebowl Fraser Valley Pickleball Tournament, March 7 - 9, 2014 at Rosedale Traditional Community School, Chilliwack, B.C. Current IFP rules. Skill level ratings 3.5, 4.0 and 4.5. Registration fee will be $25 plus $5 per event   http://www.fraservalleypickleball.org/   Men's and Women's Singles on Friday, March 7 (5:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m.) - Double Elimination.  Men’s and Women’s Doubles on Saturday, March 8 (all day) - Round Robin
Mixed Doubles on Sunday, March 9 (all day) - Round Robin

Mission Madness, Mission Secondary School, Mission, BC Feb 8-9 results

Mission Madness, Mission Secondary School Feb 8-9 results:
Event - Gold, Silver, Bronze

Mens Doubles - 3.0/3.5    

Jay Lindenbach - Ted Bryde 

Mark Dana - Ben Penner 

Rick Oakes - Rick Adams

Mens Doubles - 4.0

Geof Kraemer - Tim Ames

Rosscoe Priebe - Mike Shepherd

Glenn Cho - Cheng-Lok Yeo

Mens Doubles - 4.5

Andrew McKimmon - Marco Jankowiak

Binu Brar - Joginder Joubble

Grant Brittain - Ronnie Pitcher

Mixed Doubles 3.0/3.5

Lin Buckler-D'arcy Windblad

Karen Renfrew-John Bell

Bonnie Gibbon-Dave Cudlipp

Mixed Doubles 4.0

Fion Chou - Glenn Cho

Karen Sawatsky - Ken Franz 

Magdalene Choy - Steven Rothenberg

Mixed Doubles 4.5

Mary Dallas - Brian Lam

Elaine Lerner - Marco Jankowiak 

Terri Welch - Ronnie Pitcher

Womens Doubles - 3.5,3.0

Bonnie Gibbon - Karen Renfrew 

Karen Sawatsky - Sharon Kraemer 

Dee Pitcher - Trudy Pitcher

Womens Doubles - 4.0

Fion Chou - Magdalene Choy 

Shelley Lawrence - Lin Buckler 

Lori Beechinor - Mary Dallas

Pickleball hits Lockerbie, UK

Pickleball hits Lockerbie, UK. THU 30 JAN 2014  Read more and see the video:http://www.itv.com/news/border/story/2014-01-30/pickleball-hits-lockerbie/#pickleball-the-new-ball-game-thats-a-bit-of-everything_318484    

A new sport, which is hugely popular in America, has arrived in Lockerbie and it's thought to be the first of it's kind in the UK.  A new sport called 'Pickleball' has made it's way to Lockerbie. The sport is hugely popular in America and when Pat Burnett was there on holiday she watched the game being played and thought it would be great to bring it back home.  When we go on holiday we often come back with souvenirs. But one woman from Lockerbie went to America and came back with a new sport for her and her friends.

It's called 'Pickleball' - and now those friends have set up what's thought to be the first Pickleball club in the UK. One of the main attractions of Pickleball is that it can be played indoors, so it is ideal for the UK's unpredictable climate. The club meets every Wednesday night at the town hall in Lockerbie and at the moment between 30 and 40 people are attending each week. It costs £2 per session and paddles and balls are provided.

International Pickleball Survey Results

International Pickleball Survey Results Are In! (USAPA Feb/14 Newsletter) Submitted by Michael Hess, President, Spanish Pickleball Association
Pickleball is often described as “The Fastest Growing Sport in North America” and given its evolution over the past decade it’s hard to find another sport more deserving of the title.
To gain a better understanding of pickleballers’ commitment to the sport we performed a survey in 2013 to explore the motives and barriers for participating. The findings of our survey, summarized below, are intended to help organizers of pickleball events, clubs, training and tournaments enhance players' experience and to attract new players to this great sport.
Survey Participants
Nearly 600 pickleball players from the U.S., Canada and Ireland participated in this survey. Participants were evenly split between females and males with an average age of 66. The large majority of respondents (87%) live in the U.S., while 8% were from Ireland and 5% from Canada.
Commitment to Pickleball Participation
Over 90% of the survey participants expressed a high level of commitment to pickleball (i.e., they are “determined” or “very determined” to continue playing), including over 75% of the “rookie” players from Ireland.
What Motivates People to Play Pickleball?
To help understand pickleballers’ motives, participants were asked to provide the three to five most important reasons they play pickleball. More than 2,000 motivation factors were given. Below is a ranking of the most important reason for playing for both males and females based on the frequency with which the reasons were expressed:
1^st: Health-related: exercise, fit, active, health, physical, workout, shape, body, cardio
2^nd: Fun-related: fun, enjoy, doing something I’m good at, travel
3^rd: Competition-related: competition/compete/competitive, challenge, win
4^th: Social-related: social, friend[ship], people, meet, spouse, partner, family, team, camaraderie, fellowship
5^th: Development-related: learn, improve, achieve, mental, mind, brain, alertness
Males and females expressed very similar reasons, though there were some slight differences. For example, “fun-related” factors were mentioned more frequently by females and “competition-related” factors were mentioned more frequently by males.
We hope that the survey findings, which further enable us to understand the increasing popularity of the sport, can help pickleball organizers to fine tune promotional efforts and generate new approaches to enhance the overall playing experience.
Michael Hess, PhD, is a Professor of Sport Management and President of the Spanish Pickleball Association (www.pickleballspain.org). He conducted the survey together with David Scally, Sports Administrator of the Westmeath Sports Partnership in Ireland (www.westmeathsports.ie).