GREETINGS FROM YOUR 2026 LITTLE HARBOUR OUTDOOR PICKLEBALL CLUB (LHPC) EXECUTIVE!

PLEASE JOIN US FOR A TERRIFIC 2026 OUTDOOR PICKLEBALL SEASON IN LITTLE HARBOUR!

New players and returning members are always welcome at the Little Harbour Pickleball Club. Whether you’re renewing your 2026 membership or joining LHPC for the first time, you can sign up here: 👉 https://secure.pickleballcanad...
Your LHPC Membership fees includes Pickleball Canada insurance coverage and full access to all LHPC programs and events.

EVERYONE IS WELCOME!

LHPC has members from all over Pictou County and Nova Scotia as well as seasonal residents from across Canada. Nearly half of our members have already renewed for 2026. If you haven’t yet, we encourage you to get your 2026 Pickleball Canada membership in place to ensure continuous insurance coverage and full access to LHPC programming. And if you’re still deciding—here’s what’s waiting for you this season:

Little Harbour Pickleball Club’s “Summer of 2026” Newsletter

Hey! We are celebrating our 5^th anniversary during our July 11^th “Round Robin in theHarbour” tournament. Over 60 people were able to register on PTS but everyone is WELCOME to join us for a noon-time BBQ!

Thank you for joining LHPC for 2026. Our motto, “Where Players become Friends” remains our “brand” and we are delighted to see our membership numbers remain very strong. That said, we have had some challenging weather, and Pictou County has the luxury of increased court space resulting in a need for our club to be FLEXIBLE, NIMBLE AND MARKET-DRIVEN! Here are the things you should know:

1] Our “UPDATED” 2026 schedule is now finalized and presented here for your convenience. Grab the photo and print it off for your fridge or bulletin board. Great tool for planning your weekly games and practice sessions!

Playtime Scheduler [PTS] is updated regularly and will reflect these details. Surplus court space in the Greater New Glasgow/Pictou County area has invited LHPC to make the following adjustments to the 2026 schedule and operations.

✅ Members can invite a guest/visitor to more of our programmed activities. Please read the terms and conditions on Playtime Scheduler. LHPC Members are responsible for the collection of the guest’s $5.00 entry fee. The E-Transfer address is posted on signage court-side [ littleharbourpickleball@gmail.com] and deposits are reconciled daily with Playtime scheduler names, tournament registrations, etc. so, in fairness to everyone, we may be in touch with you if a visitor’s payment is missing.

✅ Everyone must sign up on Playtime Scheduler before entering the courts. Guest’s full names must be provided for administrative/reconciliation purposes.

✅ Maximum player limits [varied by program] have decreased resulting in shorter wait times between games. Most are 18 players or less resulting in the use of the APP for even/fair player rotation. Larger groups still can use the Win / Loss buckets. (See “Rotation” information posted court-side, for your convenience and reference.)

There is a lot of available court space for everyone, however - we do offer “programmed” slots (i.e. 3.25+, 3.50+, 3.75+) to enable LHPC to remain attractive to all potential members as we strive to maintain our membership status which in turn, allows us to maintain our facilities [ spoiler alert!].

✅ LHPC offers 49 slots, 61% of which remain OPEN to all skill levels.

✅ ⭐️NEW FOR 2026! - More Support for New and Learning Players! ⭐️.

Your LHPC Weekly Schedule now presents 2 new weekly play sessions for newer players or for our Members that have not been out on the courts for a while and want a gentle re-entry to playing a bit more often.

These “New Player” slots (10:00 am -12:00 noon on Thursday’s and Saturday’s (coloured blue on the schedule, above) are intended for those desiring “relaxed play” AND - your Little Harbour Pickleball Club provides NCCP-certified Coaches and trained volunteer Mentors during select “New Player” sessions. HINT: Check the “New Player” session you are interested in joining and open up the “Notes” for that session to see if a Coach or Mentor will be on site.

👉 This “hands-on” coaching/support is a free, volunteer service qualified & trained LHPC Members provide. If there is no Coach or Mentor listed for the “New Player” session you want to book into - please contact LHPC Development Chair @ cdross56@icloud.com to request one. Good chance we can help! 👌🏻

👉 Interested in becoming a volunteer Mentor/helper? Contact LHPC Development Chair Colin Ross @ cdross56@icloud.com for details & the next training opportunity. (Training will include the proper use of the LHPC ERNE ball machine.) ⭐️

✅ We have scheduled two new 3.75+ slots to our weekly schedule in addition to our two 3.5+slots offering a dedicated and competitive environment for advanced players. You will notice that players must be self-rated at these levels to enter PTS as play is ‘Fast & Furious”

✅ We offer three 3.25+ slots for those in terested in a more competitive environment.

✅ We have introduced a “Book a Court” option at noon time. This is when your group can have dedicated access for focussed drilling, that levelling “grudge match” or for a fun & active family gathering.”

✅ Women’s Nite; Men’s Nite ; and Partner Play remain very popular and are very social. Give them a try!

✅ New Player Development: Our first “Learn 2 Play” program was successfully launched in May & June with 24 eager participants from throughout Pictou County!

Learn2Play graduates have been invited to join in our New Player play slots through Playtime Scheduler as follow-up to their Learn2Play introduction to pickleball. These graduates have also been offered the opportunity to apply their $15.00 Learn2Play fee toward a 2026 LHPC Membership and we hope to welcome some new LHPC Members, as a result!

“In-House” Expertise! To help LHPC Members reach their “pickleball journey” goals of improved skills and better play - we now boast having 10 NCCP-certified Level #1 Pickleball Coaches within our Membership community! Along with assisting in regular skill-based Clinics, etc. - these NCCP Coaches will become integral to our LHPC Development Program by helping with Indoor and Outdoor drilling sessions, Coaching the Learn2Play programs, serving as “on-court” Coaches for “New Player” sessions every Thursday & Saturday mornings from 10:00 am - 12:00 noon, and in other helpful ways.

2] Our AGM was held on June 17^th. While five members of our management committee are returning, four have retired as their two-year terms came to an end. Thank you Donna Bourque [ Finance], Cathy Richardson [PTS], Bob Richardson [ Maintenance] and Al Keefe [Development] for your tremendous service. Our 2026/27 team is as follows;

Returning: Chair- Graham MacNeil; Vice Chair- Heather Budreski; Secretary- Anne Jenkins; Development- Colin Ross ; Events- Carolyn MacNeil

New: Play Time Scheduler [ PTS]- Don MacLeod; Finance- Lindsey MacDonald; Maintenance- Brian MacDonnell

Note: Lindsey is a CPA, from Little Harbour and represents the next generation, Don [ Sue] is our first seasonal resident Management Committee representative and Brian [ Gail] hails from Pictou Landing having moved back to NS from Ontario. Welcome all!

3] Just a reminder, our 2026 Events schedule is as follows:

July 11^th- The Harbour Round Robin Fun Tournament- filled in one day with 66 registrations. Co-Chairs- Don and Sue MacLeod. Details to be announced. 5^TH Anniversary celebration.

August 7-9th- National Pickleball Day- The Harbour Regional- Co-Host Bill and Donna- Registration TBA

Dink N Dine- July 16^th and 30^th; August 13^th and 27th

September- TBA

Have additional membership questions? Reach me at grahamrmacneil@gmail.com

2026 Learn2Play Session #4 Participants Warming-up for 2 hours of FUN w/Bill, Kevin & Colla! June 27,2026.

February 2026 Newsletter

#1. 📅 2026 Schedule

Our 2026 schedule features programming for recreational, intermediate, and advanced members—ensuring there’s something for everyone.

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#2. 🌟 “Faves at 5:00” Are Back

All your favourites return in 2026:

• Monday — Ladies Night
• Tuesday — Men’s Night
• Wednesday — 3.25+ “Paddles Up!”
• Thursday — Dink ’n Dine
  (4:00–7:00 on July 16, July 30, August 13, August 27)
• Friday — Partner Play

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#3. 💥 NEW 3.75+ / Guest Slots - 2/week!

A new high-level playing slot designed to attract top players from across the region and province to compete at LHPC and GUESTS ARE WELCOME for this division.

* Thursdays from 7:00 - 9:00 pm & Saturdays from 1:00 - 3:00 pm

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#4. ⚡ 3.5+ Fast & Furious (Competitive Play)

Competitive play returns:

• Wednesdays from 5:00 - 7:00 p.m.
  (or earlier on non–Dink ’n Dine nights). See Playtime Scheduler for details.
• Sundays from 8:00 - 10:00 a.m.
  See PlayTime Scheduler (PTS) for details.

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#5. 📊 DUPR-Compliant Sessions

LHPC may introduce/trial DUPR-compliant play twice per week, giving members the opportunity to establish and track an evolving performance benchmark. Sessions may be gender-specific, based upon demand. (Update June 25/2026: DUPR events will not take place within the 2026 Little Harbour Regular Weekly Schedule. Possibly to be considered for 2027.) CDRoss.

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#6. 🎯 Book-a-Court Practice Option

A Book-a-Court feature will be added to the noon “Practice” slot, providing private access to one court for focused play or training. Booking required via PTS.

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#7. 🏆 2026 Events (Tentative Dates)

• Swing into Summer Club Open — Weekend of June 13
• MiLP @ LHPC — Weekend of July 11
• The LHPC Regional — Weekend of August 8
• Labour Daze Fall Festival — Weekend of September 5

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#8. 📈 Clinics & Instruction

Clinics are first come, first served.
New for 2026: participant evaluation scorecards.

Liem’s Lessons:
Dave and Sherry Liem return (all levels), mid-May to June 30. Clinic dates/registration will be announced in advance to encourage fair access to all. Watch PTS for levels and dates.

Note: Additional Level Two certified instructors may be added to meet regional demand.

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#9. 🧠 Player Development Strategy

Our 2026 development framework 

• The NEW (2026) LHPC Learn2Play Pickleball Program (May & June 2026, $15/person/ 3 consecutive classes; 6 hours total NCCP-certified Instruction!
  (Thursdays & Saturdays at 10:00 a.m. until June 30)
  • “New Player” slots every Thursday & Saturday mornings (10:00 - 12:00 noon. ESPECIALLY designed for Learn2Play Program graduates, brand new & learning players and people looking for light, friendly social play.  NOTE: Please check each “New Player” play session you are interested in signing up for to see if there will be a LHPC Coach or Mentor to provide free coaching and support to any/all signed up for a particular “New Player Thursday or Saturday morning play slot.
• Clinics: May 17, 2026 (2.0 - 3.0 in am and 3.25+ in pm.). More clinics may be offered if demand warrants
• Drilling sessions indoors (off-season), Noon - 1 pm daily Practice/Drilling slots (see schedule). DRILLING COACHES AND THE ERNE ball machine are available at select noon Pracrice/Drilling sessions. Check “Notes” for a desired session. On Playtime Scheduler to see when Coaches/ERNE available. For more information contact LHPC Player Development at cdross56@icloud.com.
• Officiating & Rules Clarification
• Enhanced Programming: DUPR, 3.75+, MiLP-based events, Book-a-Court, monthly events (NOT in 2026.)
• ERNE our ball machine lives court-side this summer for easier Member access and overall convenience.

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#10. 🛠 Court Resurfacing

Court resurfacing is scheduled for sometime in late June/early July, 2026 with minimal impacts on LHPC programming. Stay tuned for updates.