About
Blue Coast Pickleball Club
The Blue Coast Pickleball Club has finalized our membership in the Ontario Pickleball Association. As of November 20, 2023, we have become a fully registered club with the Canadian and Ontario Pickleball Associations and the first club in the Sarnia -Lambton area.
Our group currently consists of over 65 members signed up with the BCPC. In association with other local pickleball groups – The Lighthouse Group and River City Pickleball, we represent a significant number of players in the pickleball community. We are hoping to expand our membership this year; however, the venues/locations for play in this area are extremely limited. That said, the pickleball community continues to grow exponentially.
Our group has a long and solid connection with the Strangway Community Centre and we currently have three members who instruct novice players at the Centre on a weekly basis. In addition, many of our members have been coordinators/convenors for the summer and winter sessions provided by the Strangway Centre over the past several years. The staff at the Strangway Centre have done a wonderful job in meeting the needs of the local pickleball player base. Our members have been pleased with the efforts and services provided by the SCC staff in the encouragement and development of Pickleball in the Sarnia-Lambton area. We strongly oppose any privatization of the local public facilities as we would prefer to leave the politics out of our sport. The BCPC believes that the City of Sarnia should continue to coordinate pickleball in all public city venues while maintaining these locations under their capable control.
The Blue Coast Pickleball Club focuses on the social and recreational aspects of playing as a group. We know each other and regularly get together for social activities - dinners, plays, parties etc. - off the courts. We are not consumed with player ranking and striving for tournament competition, we will focus our efforts on the recreational aspect of the game. However, we do have our own in-club tournaments every year. In addition, any member wishing to compete in a tournament outside of our club is encouraged. It is a game that is supposed to be fun (combined with some (needed?) exercise).
In conclusion, the Blue Coast Pickleball Club believes in maintaining club independence and self-regulation at the local level. We also believe in preserving the status quo of the current pickleball situation under the umbrella of the Strangway Community Centre and the City of Sarnia. We would be more than willing to coordinate with other local groups to continue in the training of future ‘pickleballers’ while helping the city establish increased court venues providing the entire community has free and open access to all facilities.