About Us
Our History
The River John Pickleball Club was started by a group of local residents who have enjoyed Pickleball for several years and wanted to bring the opportunity for fun, exercise, and social interaction to the RiverJohn area. The idea of pickleball in River John soon attracted a lot of interest with near 200 people joining the River John Pickleball Club Facebook page. The group has seen interest from Tatamagouche to Pictou to Caribou Island.
Our Mission
Promote and develop the game of pickleball for all ages, levels and abilities, by creating and cultivating an environment that promotes health, friendship, and fun. The RJPC holds respect and fair play as most important, and values people more than the game.
Our Guiding Principles
RJPC's guiding principles are intended to guide decision-making and operation of the Club:
1. We are focused on bringing pickleball to the community, ensuring access and membership are available for all ages and abilities.
2. Promoting fellowship, respect and good sportsmanship.
3. Our club is self-funding (i.e. we are not always doing fundraising to cover annual operating expenses plus the build-up of required contingency funds); at the same time, membership fees should be structured in such a way that all members of the community can participate.
4. We have the necessary, but minimum set of rules (so that people are not always asking us to enforce or arbitrate a large set of rules and regulations);
5. We have the necessary but minimum set of management processes and meetings (so that we are not spending lots of time on management tasks or meetings).
6. Ensure that our facility is well maintained.
Board of Directors (2024-25)
The Board is currently comprised of eight members. In alphabetical order by last name, they are:
Margaret Barry, John Carruthers, Sheila Johnston, Vicki Patton, Theresa Rath Spicer, Don Spicer, Wade Taylor & Karen Upshaw
Executive Committee
The Executive Committee is comprised of the following roles:
- President - Wade Taylor
- Vice President - Don Spicer
- Treasurer - John Carruthers
- Secretary - Theresa Rath Spicer
Other Club Committees
The Club Committees are as follows:
Finance & Fundraising: John Carruthers, Chair
Operations: Don Spicer, Chair
Construction: Margaret Barry, Chair
Membership: Karen Upshaw, Chair
Events/Social: Sheila Johnston, Chair
Communications: Theresa Rath Spicer, Chair
Legion Liaison Committee: Wade Taylor, Chair