About Pickleball Newfoundland
Pickleball has been around in various parts of Newfoundland and Labrador for several years. There are currently, active groups in Stephenville, Grandfalls-Windsor, Marystown, St. John’s, and most recently it was introduced in Clarenville. More locations are expected to start when facilities begin to open up again. Within St. John’s there are active groups playing at Memorial University’s Field House, and at the Greenbelt Tennis Club. We hope to start in the town of Paradise and City of Mt. Pearl very soon. The potential for growth is great, with a lot of advertising promoting the sport provided by CBC TV, VOCM radio and CBC News. One such story can be seen here: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/pickleball-new-home-1.5460853. We need more communities to promote the sport especially among the seniors and by providing some facilities.
During the downtime due to COVID-19, we managed to get organized and formally registered Pickleball Newfoundland and Labrador Association Inc. as the body representing pickleball in the Province, and on July 1, Canada Day, Pickleball Canada welcomed Newfoundland and Labrador as its 10th affiliation. Coincidentally, Newfoundland was also the tenth province to join Confederation in 1949.
The current members of the board of Pickleball Newfoundland and Labrador Association Inc. are:
President: Leonard Lye
Vice President: Bill Thistle
Treasurer: Vincent Hoang
Secretary: Alison Hickman
Western Region Rep: Emily Alexander
Central Region Rep: Carla Legge
Eastern Region Rep: TBD
St. John’s/Avalon: Nicole Carlson
Labrador Region: To be filled
Youth Representative: Nicole Carlson
Officiating Representative: Mark McGowan
Member-at-Large: Janice Cooper
Ex-Officio: Donna Aylward, President of East Coast Rock Club